Turn to chatbots for sharing feelings or seeking solutions? Differential associations of chatbot-mediated self-disclosure and instrumental help-seeking with adolescent interpersonal behaviors in the United States and Hong Kong

This study contributes to continuing efforts to understand the impacts of AI chatbots on adolescents’ development. Specifically, this study examined the association between different conversation preferences with AI chatbots (self-disclosure, instrumental help-seeking) and adolescents’ prosocial behaviors and bullying via the mediating role of coping styles, as well as potential cultural differences. A total sample of 2023 adolescents (Mage=15.520 years) from the United States (US) and Hong Kong (HK) are included in the analysis. A major finding was that the preference to seek instrumental help from AI chatbots showed stable positive consequences across different cultures, relating to more adaptive coping and positive behaviors. By contrast, the consequences of the preference for self-disclosure with AI chatbots showed cultural differences, with linking to more adaptive coping and positive behaviors in adolescents from HK, but more maladaptive coping and negative behaviors in adolescents from the US. These findings enrich the current understanding of human-AI interactions from a cross-cultural perspective and have practical implications for designing AI chatbots and guiding adolescents’ usage of AI chatbots.