by Eleni Meletiadou
This blog draws on cross-national research conducted within the Digital Mental Health for Young People (YouthDMH) COST Action CA23153, an EU-funded European research network.
Introduction
Students experiencing anxiety do not always approach university counselling services first. Some turn to digital self-assessment, mental-health apps or conversational artificial intelligence (AI). These tools may feel private and accessible, but students may struggle to judge their reliability or recognise when professional help is needed. Research on young people’s online mental-health help-seeking highlights both the opportunities and limitations of digital support.
This blog presents findings from a cross-national study of 220 students in the UK, Slovakia and Slovenia. Conducted within the YouthDMH COST Action. The study examined reported anxiety, the use of AI and other digital mental-health technologies, perceived usefulness, intentions to reuse these tools and concerns about potential harm. As a Working Group member representing the UK, I am particularly interested in how digital technologies can support young people’s mental health and help-seeking while addressing safety, privacy and unequal access.
The findings raise an important question for higher education: how can universities respond responsibly when students are already using digital tools to manage mental-health difficulties? Rather than simply encouraging or discouraging their use, institutions need to understand students’ experiences and ensure that digital resources complement, rather than replace, appropriate human support.
What my research reveals
Reported anxiety was highest among students in the UK, lower among those in Slovakia and lowest among those in Slovenia. Around half of participants reported using AI or digital mental-health technologies. General-purpose conversational AI, particularly ChatGPT, was used more frequently than dedicated mental-health tools. Perceived usefulness was the clearest factor associated with intentions to use AI again to manage mental-health difficulties. Participants also raised concerns about data protection, dependence, and potential negative effects.
These findings suggest that university policies should consider the tools students actually use, not only those institutions formally recommend. However, the survey does not establish why students choose particular tools. Perceived usefulness and intentions to reuse do not demonstrate that anxiety has improved, that advice is accurate, or that appropriate help has been received. Similarly, differences in reported anxiety across countries do not, by themselves, explain the reasons for those differences or establish their statistical significance.
What previous research adds
Previous research has documented cross-national differences in university students’ mental health, including a study of students in nine countries by Ochnik et al (2021). More recently, a rapid systematic review by Nyakhar and Wang (2025) examined the effectiveness of AI chatbots for mental health and wellbeing among college students. Their review identified promising findings but also limitations in the evidence, highlighting the need for more rigorous research.
My study brings reported anxiety, digital-tool use, perceived usefulness, intentions to reuse, and concerns about harm into one analysis across three national contexts. This offers a more specific basis for institutional discussion than treating digital support as a single category. Evidence about structured mental-health interventions cannot automatically be taken as evidence that general-purpose chatbots reduce anxiety, nor can findings about AI alone explain how students use the wider range of digital resources.
What should universities do?
1. Build digital mental-health literacy into student support. Students need practical guidance on evaluating information, recognising technological limitations, protecting sensitive data and understanding that digital tools cannot reliably diagnose anxiety. This guidance could be integrated into induction, personal tutoring, digital-skills provision and wellbeing support. The aim should be informed use, not simply telling students to avoid technology.
2. Connect digital self-help to human support. Counselling, wellbeing services, primary care and urgent support should be easy to find. Apps, online questionnaires and chatbot interfaces should communicate their limitations clearly and provide understandable next steps. Digital resources should complement, not replace, accessible and adequately resourced professional services.
3. Assess tools before recommending them. Universities should review privacy, reliability, accessibility and evidence of effectiveness before endorsing digital mental-health resources. They should also explain why a tool is recommended and how student information may be processed. The World Health Organization’s guidance on AI ethics and governance for health offers relevant principles for safety, transparency and accountability.
4. Involve students in service design. Universities should ask students which tools they use, what they find useful and what prevents them from seeking help. Consultation should include students with different backgrounds, language needs, disabilities and levels of digital confidence. A single app or support pathway will not meet everyone’s needs.
5. Measure outcomes, not just uptake. Downloads, satisfaction and intentions to reuse are insufficient measures of success. Institutions should evaluate whether students can identify reliable information, access appropriate help and navigate services safely. Where anxiety reduction is the intended outcome, suitable measures and research designs are needed. Universities should also examine whether referral pathways work in practice and whether particular groups encounter additional barriers.
From findings to institutional responsibility
The value of this study lies in connecting reported anxiety with digital mental-health tool use, the perceived usefulness of AI and concerns about risk across three national contexts. It moves the discussion beyond a simple choice between embracing and rejecting AI. Universities need to understand the digital landscape students are already navigating and respond with clear guidance, appropriate safeguards, accessible human support and meaningful evaluation. This requires collaboration between academic staff, student services, digital-learning teams and institutional leaders.
Institutions should neither dismiss students’ use of digital tools nor endorse them uncritically. The priority is to help students make informed decisions, recognise the limitations of digital self-help and reach appropriate support when they need it. Responsible digital inclusion means ensuring that technological accessibility is accompanied by reliable information, human care and institutional accountability.
Dr Eleni Meletiadou is Strategic Lead – Academic Development, Inclusion, Research and Innovation at the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), University of East London. She is a Principal Fellow of Advance HE (PFHEA), a National Teaching Fellow (NTF) and a UEL EDI Honorary Fellow. Her research focuses on inclusive and intercultural education, digital and AI-enhanced learning and assessment, equity and social justice in higher education, and student wellbeing. Her work explores how educational innovation can advance inclusion, digital literacy and sustainable learning across diverse educational contexts. She is a Working Group Member in the Digital Mental Health for Young People (YouthDMH) COST Action CA23153, contributing to European research and collaboration on young people’s digital mental health.