Development and Validation of AI Help-Seeking Behavior Scale Among Undergraduate University Students
(1) Background: Artificial intelligence tools have become integrated into undergraduate students from academic assignments to seek help with psychological concerns, particularly during the crises period. Scales measuring Artificial Intelligence-help-seeking behavior (AI-HSB) are still limited. This study aims to develop a new bilingual scale (Arabic and English) to assess AI-HSB by providing a reliable and useful tool for researchers worldwide. (2) Methods: We conducted a methodological cross-sectional design among 416 undergraduate students in United Arab Emirates (AUE) between the period of 1 October 2025 and 10 December 2025, using an online Google Form. The development, translation, validation, and reliability processes were conducted for the AI-HSB scale. (3) Results: It has been found that 13 items (two factors) are strong indications of factorial validity, reliability, and construct validity of AI-HSB scale. The two factors explained about 58% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure with all items loading above recommended thresholds and the goodness-of-fit indices of AI-HSB all exceeded 0.90. (4) Conclusions: The AI-HSB is a valid and reliable tool for assessing AI-based psychological help-seeking behavior among university students in the UAE. This scale will allow universities, counselors, and policymakers to use a well-validated scale to measure the extent to which students are using AI for psychological coping.
Authors
- Othman A. Alfuqaha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4847-6388)
- Rasha M. Abdelrahman
- Kyle Msall
Institutions
- Ajman University (AE)
- National Board of Examinations (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education
- Published
- 2026-06-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe16070090
- Primary Topic
- Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00