Development of an AI-Based System to Enhance School Counseling Models for Asian Elementary Students With Emotional Disorders

In Asia, the availability of school counselors is significantly lower than global standards recommend, particularly in elementary education settings. This shortage is exacerbated by rising mental health concerns among young students, particularly those with emotional disorders. Considering the critical gap in the provision of mental health services in Asia, this paper studies a digital intervention approach with an AI-driven supportive system developed by adopting OpenAI to enhance the effectiveness of counseling in elementary education. Twenty-two students with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and emotional disorders undergoing counseling at a primary school in Taiwan were recruited as participants for a three-month experiment, with the five Social-Emotional competencies as dependent variables. The treatment group utilized the proposed system with a digital journaling platform to help students reflect on their emotions, thoughts, and actions after counseling sessions, fostering an ongoing dialogue with their counselors through the system. Conversely, the control group received standard counseling without integrating the use of the proposed platform. The results of a two-factor mixed design ANOVA revealed that students who did not use the supportive system showed significant improvement in self-awareness. In contrast, students who went through the new model demonstrated significant changes in all competencies. These findings highlight the value of the proposed intervention approach for students with emotional disorders and suggest broader applications for AI technologies in school counseling, offering valuable insights for educators and policymakers.