The correlates of self-disclosure preference with AI chatbots diverge culturally: positive with adaptive coping in HK but not the US, and positively associated with maladaptive coping in the US but negatively in HK¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Self-disclosure is significantly positively associated with adaptive coping in HK adolescents but shows no significant association in US adolescents (z = -3.74, p < 0.001). → Huinan Hu 2026 q2 i? Self-disclosure is positively correlated with maladaptive coping in US adolescents but negatively correlated in HK adolescents (z = 4.84, p < 0.001). → Huinan Hu 2026 q2 i? Structural paths from adaptive coping to prosocial behaviors and bullying are significantly stronger in HK than US adolescents (z = -3.79, p < 0.001; z = 2.16, p < 0.05). → Huinan Hu 2026

Evidence¶

Huinan Hu 2026¶

Huinan Hu, Mojtaba Habibi Asgarabad, Enyi Jen, H. N. Cheung. (2026). Turn to chatbots for sharing feelings or seeking solutions? Differential associations of preferences for chatbot-mediated self-disclosure and instrumental help-seeking with adolescent interpersonal behaviors in the United States and Hong Kong. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/qm6bg_v1

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Multi-group SEM comparison (US N = 1276; HK N = 747); a significant ΔCFI = 0.011 between measurement- and structural-weight invariant models supported separate regional analysis, and z-tests compared unstandardized path coefficients (Table 5).

"self-disclosure had a significantly positive association with adaptive coping in HK adolescents while it showed no significant association with adaptive coping in US adolescents (z = -3.74, p < 0.001). Self-disclosure was positively correlated with maladaptive coping in US adolescents but negatively correlated with maladaptive coping in HK adolescents (z = 4.84, p < 0.001)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Adolescents with self-disclosure or instrumental help-seeking preferences show higher adaptive coping and prosocial behaviors, and the self-disclosure group shows the lowest maladaptive coping and bullying, in ANOVA comparisons — related
• Adolescents' preference for instrumental help-seeking from AI chatbots is positively associated with adaptive coping, which relates to more prosocial behavior and less bullying, consistently across US and HK samples — related
• In the whole sample, preference for self-disclosure with AI chatbots is associated with higher adaptive coping and lower maladaptive coping, linking to more prosocial behavior and less bullying — reports the opposite
• Mediation effects of self-disclosure preference on interpersonal behaviors are significant in HK adolescents but largely non-significant in US adolescents, where maladaptive coping mediates toward more bullying — related
• US and HK adolescents differ in conversation-topic preferences: HK adolescents more often prefer instrumental help-seeking and self-disclosure, while US adolescents more often report nothing to say to chatbots
• Cross-cultural measurement problems may bias psychosocial instruments translated across cultures — related
• Positive coping styles show larger coefficients than negative coping styles, suggesting improving positive coping strategies may be more beneficial than minimising negative ones — related