Supporting Student Mental Health With the Safespace Generative AI Chatbot: A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study

Background: Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) chatbots have the potential to provide personalized mental health support to individuals at scale.Objective: This study evaluates the feasibility and usage patterns of the Safespace genAI chatbot, an AI-driven smartphone application that offers an LLM-powered interactive chatbot to support mental health.Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, we explored baseline attitudes towards genAI chatbots and chatbot usage patterns, conducted a qualitative content analysis of participants’ experiences, and descriptively assessed patterns related to pre-intervention depressive symptoms. The study included an initial sample of N = 42 university students, n = 20 of whom actively used the chatbot over two to four weeks, generating 286 user-chatbot interactions.Results: Pre-intervention surveys indicated that the majority of participants anticipated the chatbot would be helpful (64%) and that they trusted its privacy safeguards (93%). Usage patterns hinted towards that the highest levels of interaction occurred early in the morning and late at night, when peer and professional support may be inaccessible. The qualitative analysis indicated that participants appreciated using the chatbot for reflection as a blended care tool between their counseling sessions, while also naming technical barriers and specific design needs to sustain engagement. In addition, our exploratory analyses descriptively showed that participants with elevated depression scores engaged in emotional disclosure during 99% of their sessions, compared to 84% for those with low symptoms. Due to the small sample size, future adequately powered studies are needed to inferentially examine these observed patterns.Conclusion: These findings provide initial insights into the usage and engagement dynamics of the Safespace genAI chatbot and highlight directions for future research to optimize genAI-driven mental health interventions.Trial Registration: AEA Registry https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13291-1.0