In a nationally representative survey, 19.2% of adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 21 said that they had used AI chatbots for mental health advice in 2025.Most respondents (63.3%) said they had not discussed their AI chatbot use for mental health advice with anyone.Researchers recommended that mental health clinicians routinely ask their patients about AI chatbot use.
Roughly one in five young people used an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for mental health advice last year, a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey showed.
Among youths ages 12 to 21, 19.2% said that they had used AI chatbots for mental health advice in 2025, up from 13.1% in a similar 2024 survey, reported Ryan K. McBain, PhD, MPH, of the RAND Corporation in Arlington, Virginia, and co-authors in JAMA Pediatrics.
Among those who used AI chatbots for this purpose, 42.8% did so at least monthly, and 91.7% rated the advice as somewhat or very helpful. Most respondents (63.3%) said they had not discussed their AI chatbot use for mental health advice with anyone.
"The speed of growth is attention-grabbing, but so is the fact that most young people who use these tools for mental health advice say they are not telling anyone," McBain said in a press release.
