A survey on the use of AI chatbots and mental health

Information for study participants

Dear study participant,

We hereby invite you to participate in the above-mentioned study. Please read the following information carefully. You can then decide whether you would like to consent to participate in the study. Please take your time and ask questions if anything is unclear. You can pause the survey at any time to do so. Below you will find the contact details of the research lead, whom you can contact if you have any questions.

We would like to thank you in advance for your commitment and participation in the study!

This study is being planned, conducted and evaluated by the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at LVR University Hospital Essen.

The study has been submitted to the ethics committee, which has raised no objections.

Participation in the study is voluntary. You may discontinue the survey at any time by closing the browser window without providing a reason. In this case, any data entered up to that point will not be saved and will be deleted. Please note that once you have submitted the completed survey, it will no longer be possible to withdraw your data. You will not suffer any disadvantages from choosing not to participate or from discontinuing the survey before submission.

Aim of the study:

Artificial intelligence (AI) can now be used to obtain information or emotional support and to engage in human-like conversations with chatbots. The aim of the study is to investigate psychological factors and risks associated with the use of AI-based chatbots, which refer to Large Language Models (LLMs) like chatGPT, Gemini, Replika, Claude etc.

Study procedure:

The study will be conducted online. After giving your consent, you will complete a series of questionnaires. This will take approximately 20 minutes.
Note: Some items in this survey were included to assess data quality and response consistency.

Risks:

Participation in this study is voluntary. To the best of our knowledge, there are no risks or disadvantages for you as a participant. Previous studies of this kind have also not revealed any adverse events or risks for study participants. You can withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason and without incurring any disadvantages or obligations.

Benefits:

By participating, you are supporting scientific understanding of the use of AI chatbots and their connection to mental health.

Information on data protection:

In this study, the Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the LVR University Hospital Essen is responsible for data processing. The legal basis for processing is personal consent (Art. 6(1)(a), Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR). The data is stored anonymously. The data will be treated confidentially at all times. The data will be collected exclusively for the purpose of the study described above and will only be used within this context. If you withdraw from the study, all data you have entered will be deleted.

Your answers will be stored anonymously and password-protected. Your answers will be evaluated by the study team at the Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the LVR University Hospital Essen. The answers will be stored in a password-protected database to which only the study team has access to. No personal identifying data will be collected in this study.

If you have any questions please contact the examiner:
Dr. Alexander Diel, M.Sc. Psych.
alexander.diel@lvr.de
LVR-Universitätsklinik Essen
Universität Duisburg-Essen
Klinik für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, LVR-Universitätsklinik Essen
Virchowstr. 174, 45147 Essen                                                        

If you have any questions regarding data processing and compliance with data protection regulations, please contact the data protection officer:
John Büder
LVR-Stabsstelle für Datenschutz und Medienrecht
50663 Köln
Tel.: 0221-809-2550
E-Mail: datenschutzbeauftragter@lvr.de

You also have the right to file a complaint with any data protection supervisory authority. A list of supervisory authorities in Germany can be found at: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html
You can contact your local supervisory authority at:
Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen
Postfach 20 04 44
40102 Düsseldorf
Tel.: 0211 - 38424 - 0
Fax: 0211-38424-10
poststelle@ldi.nrw.de

Voluntariness of participation:
Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you wish to participate, please confirm your consent by signing the enclosed consent form. You may discontinue the survey at any time by closing your browser. Since the survey is anonymous, it is not possible to withdraw your data after submission, as no link between you and your responses can be established.

P.S: Participants recruited via SurveyCircle or SurveySwap receive credits/points for their participation, which can be used to recruit participants for their own studies free of charge.