The Effects of Psychological Counseling Types on Stress, Athlete Burnout, and Resilience in Athletes: AI Chatbot vs. Face-to-Face Counseling

This study examined the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot counseling and face-to-face counseling on perceived stress, athlete burnout, and resilience among athletes. In this three-arm quasi-experimental pretest–posttest study, 73 athletes participated in AI chatbot counseling, face-to-face counseling, or a control condition over a 12-week intervention period. Nonparametric longitudinal analyses revealed significant group-by-time interactions. After adjustment for multiplicity, significant group-by-time interactions were observed for perceived stress and reduced sense of accomplishment, a sub-variable of athlete burnout. Perceived stress significantly decreased in the face-to-face counseling group, whereas reduced sense of accomplishment significantly decreased in the AI chatbot counseling group. For supportiveness, a sub-variable of resilience, the group-by-time interaction was significant before multiplicity adjustment but did not remain significant after adjustment. These findings indicate different patterns of change across the counseling conditions and psychological outcomes. Given the quasi-experimental design and baseline differences among the groups, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and further investigation is needed to clarify the potential roles of AI chatbot counseling and face-to-face counseling in supporting athletes’ psychological well-being.