Young people are using AI for mental health advice

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-11-08 03:00

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Around 13% of young people in the US are using generative AI – such as ChatGPT, Gemini and My AI – for mental health advice, according to international researchers who surveyed over 1,000 people aged 18 to 21. The team found even higher rates among those over 18, with 22.2% using generative AI for this purpose. The team found that 65.5% of these users engaged at least monthly, and 92.7% found the advice helpful. The use reflects the low cost, immediacy, and perceived privacy of AI-based advice, according to the team who add their findings also raise concerns as many may need more clinical help than they’re getting. The team also note difficulty evaluating mental health advice given by these AI models.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: RAND, USA

Funder: Support was provided by grant R01MH132551 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr F Zhang reported receiving grants from Pfizer and GSK plc paid to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care outside the submitted work. Dr Mehrotra reported receiving personal fees from Black Opal Ventures outside the submitted work. Dr Cantor reported receiving grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Aging and personal fees from Chestnut Health, the Aspen Institute, and the US Government Accountability Office outside the submitted work. Dr Yu reported receiving grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and National Institute of Nursing Research outside the submitted work.

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