Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Dec 4, 2024
Date Accepted: Mar 29, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effectiveness of AI-driven Conversational Agents in Improving Mental Health Among Young People: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among adolescents and young adults, coupled with barriers to accessing traditional therapy, has led to growing interest in artificial-intelligence-driven (AI-driven) conversational agents (CAs) as a novel digital mental health intervention. Despite accumulating evidence suggesting the effectiveness of AI-driven CAs for mental health, there is still limited evidence on their effectiveness for different mental health conditions in adolescents and young adults.
Objective:
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of AI-driven Conversational Agents for mental health among young people.
Methods:
Five main databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) were searched systematically, resulting in fifteen articles (including 16 randomized controlled trials) involving 1,974 participants. The quality of these studies, possible publication bias and moderators were then examined.
Results:
The results indicated a moderate-to-large (Hedges’ g = 0.60) effect of AI-driven CAs on reducing depressive symptoms, particularly in subclinical populations. However, their effectiveness in addressing other health issues, such as anxiety and stress, was not significant (p > 0.05).
Conclusions:
The findings highlight the potential of AI-driven CAs for early intervention in depression among this population, and underscore the need for further improvements to enhance their efficacy across a broader range of mental health outcomes.
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Copyright
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