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Article History

Received: 6 March 2026

Accepted: 21 August 2026

First Online: 10 September 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Bahria School of Professional Psychology, Bahria University (Approval Date: 26 January 2026). All research procedures were conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments. Participation was voluntary, and all participants were informed about the purpose of the study, data collection procedures, confidentiality, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. Personally identifiable information was removed prior to analysis, and all collected data were anonymized and securely stored for research purposes only. The proposed framework was evaluated solely as an AI-assisted mental health screening and decision-support prototype and was not used for clinical diagnosis or treatment. Participants identified as potentially high-risk, including those expressing suicidal ideation, self-harm, psychotic symptoms, or abuse-related concerns, were advised to discontinue the assessment and seek immediate evaluation from qualified mental health professionals or appropriate emergency services. Informed consent was obtained from all participants before they participated in the study. Participants were informed about the objectives of the research, the voluntary nature of participation, the use of data for research purposes, and their right to withdraw from the study at any stage without any consequences.

Consent for publication: Written informed consent for publication was obtained. Albeit the data was collected from individuals after obtaining consent, however, the results are group based without disclosing anyone’s identity. All data were anonymized, and no personal information or identity was disclosed in the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.