Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Educational Development and Social Sciences (EDSS 2025)

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To Chat or Not to Chat: Understanding Chatbot Use Among Chinese Undergraduates in the Context of Social Support and Mental Health

Authors
Yuncheng Jia1, Nuchanad Hounnaklang1, *
1College of Public Health, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
*Corresponding author. Email: nuchanad.h@chula.ac.th
Corresponding Author
Nuchanad Hounnaklang
Available Online 15 May 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-400-6_26How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Chatbots Social Support; AI Mental Health; Human-Computer Interaction
Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are increasingly used to support mental health. However, factors influencing individuals’ engagement with these digital tools remain understudied. This study investigated the relationship between perceived social support, mental health status, and the intention and frequency of chatbot use among Chinese undergraduate students. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 398 participants, who answered questions about their demographics, mental health, perceived social support, and chatbot use. Contrary to our hypothesis, lower mental health conditions were not associated with a lower frequency of chatbot use, and participants with higher levels of perceived social support from friends were more likely to use chatbots, while those with higher levels of perceived social support from other channels were not related to the use of chatbots. Our findings suggest that AI chatbots may have unique social cues in the user’s perception as a form of supplemental social connection. It may complement, rather than replace, traditional social support systems.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Educational Development and Social Sciences (EDSS 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
15 May 2025
ISBN
978-2-38476-400-6
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-400-6_26How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Yuncheng Jia
AU  - Nuchanad Hounnaklang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/15
TI  - To Chat or Not to Chat: Understanding Chatbot Use Among Chinese Undergraduates in the Context of Social Support and Mental Health
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Educational Development and Social Sciences (EDSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 203
EP  - 213
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-400-6_26
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-400-6_26
ID  - Jia2025
ER  -