Beyond Replacement: Episode‐Based Pathways Between Generative AI and School Counselor Help‐Seeking Among Indonesian Adolescents

ABSTRACT

Adolescents use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for emotional support, yet little is known about how GenAI and school counselors are used within the same problem episode. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined 432 Indonesian students aged 15–18 years; 192 (44.4%) had used GenAI for personal or emotional problems in the previous 6 months. Among these students, 124 (64.6%) involved human support within the same episode. Five pathways were identified: GenAI only (35.4%), GenAI → non‐school‐based human support (25.5%), GenAI → school counselor (22.4%), parallel use (11.5%), and school counselor → GenAI (5.2%). Psychological distress was not associated with counselor involvement. Help‐Seeking Fears were lower among those involving a counselor but were not independently associated after adjustment, whereas perceived counselor emotional support was the only significant independent correlate (OR = 2.16, 95% CI [1.50, 3.11], p  < 0.001). Interviews with 10 students indicated that GenAI could make initial disclosure feel less risky, while counselor involvement reflected confidentiality, feeling heard, and perceptions of school counseling. These findings position GenAI within a multidirectional same‐episode process. For school mental health practice, GenAI use may signal support needs, and school mental health personnel can strengthen confidentiality, relational safety, and pathways to human support.