Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults Use AI Chatbots for Mental Health Advice (RAND)

[usonian]

https://www.rand.org/news/press/2026/06/nearly-1-in-5-us-adolescents-and-young-adults-use-ai.html

Use for mental health advice has risen sharply in the past year, and most young people say they have not told anyone about turning to chatbots for help.

Use of artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health advice among U.S. adolescents and young adults rose by more than 40% over the past year, with nearly 1 in 5 now reporting they have used AI tools for support, according to a new study.

The study found that 19.2% of young people ages 12 to 21 said they had used AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Character.AI and Meta AI for advice or help when feeling sad, angry, nervous or stressed. That is up from 13.1% in a similar RAND survey conducted a year earlier and is similar to the 19.8% who reported receiving counseling from a mental health professional.

Researchers estimate that the 2025 figure represents about 8.2 million young people nationwide, suggesting that AI chatbots are becoming an increasingly common source of emotional and mental health support.

Yikes.

The paper, “AI Chatbot Use and Disclosure for Mental Health Among US Adolescents and Young Adults,” was published in JAMA Pediatrics.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2849307

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