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Evaluation of an artificial intelligence enhanced application for student wellbeing: pilot randomised trial of the mind tutor

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Ehrlich, Christian, Hennelly, Sarah E., Wilde, Natalie, Lennon, Oliver, Beck, Alan, Messenger, Hazel, Sergiou, Katerina and Davies, Emma L. (2024) Evaluation of an artificial intelligence enhanced application for student wellbeing: pilot randomised trial of the mind tutor. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 9 (1). pp. 435-454. ISSN 2364-5059

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Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of UK university students disclosing mental health conditions in recent years. This paper describes the evaluation of the Mind Tutor app, an artificial intelligence based wellbeing app specifically designed for first year undergraduate students, which included a chatbot function that guided students to relevant wellbeing content. The content of the app was developed based on data about mental health and wellbeing issues reported by students and focussed on anxiety, low mood, academic study, transition to university and relationships. Two randomised controlled evaluation studies were conducted with N = 177 and N = 240 first year undergraduate students from two UK universities (the second due to delays in development work and difficulties with recruitment in the first trial). The Mind Tutor had no significant impact on student wellbeing. The study suffered from poor recruitment and retention rates. However, further research is warranted to understand factors that may increase engagement and acceptability of app based tools to increase student wellbeing.

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