Nearly 1 in 5 US teens and young adults have sought mental health advice from AI chatbots, study finds
Publish Date: 2026-06-04 08:43:00
Source Domain: www.click2houston.com
HOUSTON – Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adolescents and young adults have used artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health advice, and most have never told anyone, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers found that 19.2% of Americans ages 12 to 21, representing an estimated 8.2 million people nationwide, reported using AI chatbots for mental health advice in 2025.
Among those users, nearly two-thirds said they had not disclosed their chatbot use to anyone.
The findings come as the United States continues to grapple with a youth mental health crisis and as AI tools become increasingly common in young people’s daily lives.
Researchers said the results suggest AI chatbots have become a common source of mental health advice for adolescents and young adults.
The study, led by researchers from RAND, Harvard Medical School, MIT Media Lab and several other institutions, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,009 adolescents and young adults in November 2025.
The weighted sample represented approximately 42.8 million U.S. youths.
“In this nationally representative survey, we estimated that roughly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults in the U.S., representing approximately 8 million individuals, have ever used an AI chatbot for mental health advice as of 2025,” the authors wrote.
Use increased from the previous year
The study found chatbot use for mental health advice has grown since a similar survey conducted by the research team in 2024.
Researchers noted that 13.1% of adolescents and young adults reported using generative AI for mental health advice in the earlier survey, compared with 19.2% in the current study.
The researchers highlighted the increase in the study’s key findings, noting that chatbot use for mental health advice had increased by nearly half in a single year.
Participants were asked whether they had sought advice from AI chatbots when feeling sad, angry, nervous or stressed. Examples of chatbots provided in the…
