Study details

For the study, researchers at RAND surveyed 1,009 adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 21 in November 2025 through RAND's American Life Panel on their use of AI chatbots for mental health advice. The survey did not distinguish between chatbots specifically designed to provide therapy and those with multiple uses.

They found that 19.2% of respondents said they had used AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Character.AI, and Meta AI for advice or help when they were feeling sad, angry, nervous, or stressed. The number is an increase from 13.1% in a RAND survey conducted last year.

Researchers estimated the 2025 number represents around 8.2 million young people across the United States.

The study also found that use of AI chatbots for mental health advice was more common among females than males, and more common among young adults ages 18 to 21 than teens ages 12 to 14. Respondents who had spoken with a physician about their mental health in the six months prior to the survey were more likely to report using AI chatbots for mental health advice.

Discussion

Ryan McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND and lead author of the study, called the percentage of adolescents and young adults using AI chatbots for mental health advice "a sad number, because you'd hope that young people would have the sorts of supportive relationships that they would feel comfortable and empowered reaching out to those around them."

"Many young people appear to be using AI chatbots for mental health advice privately, without the knowledge of parents, clinicians or other adults," said Jonathan Cantor, a senior policy researcher at RAND and co-author of the study. "That makes it especially important for adults to start conversations about how AI tools are being used and the role they should and should not play."

John Whyte, CEO and EVP of AMA, agreed in a "Leadership Viewpoints" piece written on AMA's website in response to the study, saying that "Congress has a responsibility to act. Not to stifle innovation, but to ensure it aligns with the same principles we expect in every corner of healthcare: safety, transparency, accountability, and trust."

Whyte outlined six actions he believes Congress should take in response.

1. Every user of a chatbot should receive a disclosure "clearly and immediately" that they are interacting with a machine.
2. Chatbots "should not diagnose or suggest conditions such as anxiety or depression," nor should they recommend medications or other treatments.
3. Chatbots used for mental health support should be able to recognize the signs of crisis, including suicidal ideation, and respond to those signs appropriately, referring to trusted resources like crisis hotlines and clear paths to human care.
4. Any tools used by minors "should meet higher thresholds for safety, testing, and transparency" and advertising should not be featured in any of these tools, "especially when it targets vulnerable users in moments of distress."
5.  Congress should require strict data collection and retention limits on chatbots, clear options for deleting conversations, and robust protections against any unauthorized access.
6. Developers should be required to track performance, report any serious incidents, and continuously evaluate how their tools are affecting users, especially in high-risk scenarios.

"We are entering a new era where technology will play a larger role in how people understand and manage their mental health," Whyte wrote. "That future holds promise. But promise without guardrails is not progress, it's risk … Congress should act now, before convenience outpaces care, and before we mistake constant availability for true support."