Using Chatbot as a Digital Peer Support Facilitator to Increase Critical Consciousness and Improve the Mental Health of Asian American LGBTQ+ Young Adults

Principal Investigators: Dr. Dale Dagar Maglalang, Assistant Professor, NYU Silver School of Social Work; Dr. Raj Korpan, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Hunter College

Consultant: Dr. Lilliane C. Windsor, Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Dates of award: 12/1/2025–11/30/2026

Amount of award: $25,000

Asian American LGBTQ+ young adults face mental health risks associated with intersecting experiences of racism, homophobia, transphobia, acculturative stress, and intergenerational conflict, while culturally responsive interventions remain limited. This newly funded pilot study will develop and evaluate a chatbot designed to foster critical consciousness—the ability to recognize and critically examine systems of oppression, engage in dialogue about lived experiences, and build capacity for action and change.

The project will begin with participatory-design focus groups involving Asian American LGBTQ+ young adults, who will help shape the chatbot’s dialogue prompts, session flow, style, cultural relevance, and trauma-informed safeguards. The research team will then develop a large language model-based prototype grounded in vetted materials on critical consciousness, Asian American history, LGBTQ+ history, advocacy, and resilience. The chatbot will use retrieval-augmented generation to draw from this curated content and will include crisis-language filters and automated referrals to support resources.

The prototype will be evaluated in a pilot randomized controlled study with 50 participants assigned to an individual chatbot group, a peer-plus-chatbot group, or a control group. The study will assess feasibility, acceptability, trust, safety, critical consciousness, psychological distress, perceived social support, and participants’ experiences of cultural relevance. Findings will guide future larger-scale research and the continued development of a low-touch, scalable resource for educational and therapeutic settings.

New York University is committed to maintaining an environment that encourages and fosters respect for individual values and appropriate conduct among all persons. In all University spaces—physical and digital—programming, activities, and events are carried out in accordance with applicable law as well as University policy, which includes but is not limited to its Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy.