Mental health practitioners’ perceptions and adoption intentions of AI-enabled technologies: an international mixed-methods study

Cecil, Julia; Kleine, Anne-Kathrin; Lermer, Eva; Gaube, Susanne (2025): Mental health practitioners’ perceptions and adoption intentions of AI-enabled technologies: an international mixed-methods study. BMC Health Services Research, 25: 556. ISSN 1472-6963

Abstract

Background

As mental health disorders continue to surge, exceeding the capacity of available therapeutic resources, the emergence of technologies enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) offers promising solutions for supporting and delivering patient care. However, there is limited research on mental health practitioners’ understanding, familiarity, and adoption intentions regarding these AI technologies. We, therefore, examined to what extent practitioners’ characteristics are associated with their learning and use intentions of AI technologies in four application domains (diagnostics, treatment, feedback, and practice management). These characteristics include medical AI readiness with its subdimensions, AI anxiety with its subdimensions, technology self-efficacy, affinity for technology interaction, and professional identification.

Methods

Mixed-methods data from N = 392 German and US practitioners, encompassing psychotherapists (in training), psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists, was analyzed. A deductive thematic approach was employed to evaluate mental health practitioners’ understanding and familiarity with AI technologies. Additionally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship between practitioners’ characteristics and their adoption intentions for different technologies.
Results

Qualitative analysis unveiled a substantial gap in familiarity with AI applications in mental healthcare among practitioners. While some practitioner characteristics were only associated with specific AI application areas (e.g., cognitive readiness with learning intentions for feedback tools), we found that learning intention, ethical knowledge, and affinity for technology interaction were relevant across all four application areas, underscoring their relevance in the adoption of AI technologies in mental healthcare.
Conclusion

In conclusion, this pre-registered study underscores the importance of recognizing the interplay between diverse factors for training opportunities and consequently, a streamlined implementation of AI-enabled technologies in mental healthcare.

• Dokumententyp: Artikel (LMU)
• Organisationseinheit (Fakultäten): 11 Psychologie und Pädagogik > Department Psychologie
• DFG-Fachsystematik der Wissenschaftsbereiche: Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 491502892