Artificial Intelligence and Adolescent Well-Being: An APA Health Advisory
An expert-panel health advisory from the American Psychological Association synthesizing research on adolescents (roughly ages 10-25) and generative AI, with recommendations for developers, policymakers, parents, and educators. It sets out safeguards for age-appropriate design, AI health-information accuracy, data privacy, likeness protection, and AI literacy.
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1 Jun 2025
Added
yesterday
DOI
—
Key Findings
- AI systems that simulate human relationships risk fostering unhealthy dependency and displacing real-world connection; the advisory calls for safeguards and repeated reminders that the user is interacting with non-human technology
- Youth-facing AI should differ from adult versions, with protective defaults and reduced engagement-maximizing features
- Health-related AI content requires accuracy verification and clear disclaimers, plus crisis-directed resources
- Calls for robust content filtering, adolescent-privacy protections, likeness/deepfake safeguards, and comprehensive AI literacy
Methodology Notes
Consensus health advisory from an APA expert advisory panel synthesizing existing developmental and digital-media research; a professional-body position statement rather than new primary data. Published June 2025 (day-level precision unavailable from the source page; normalized to the 1st).
Sources
APA Health Advisory landing page (primary)
Archived snapshot (Wayback Machine) — preserved against link rot
Topics
Tags
Cite This
APA
American Psychological Association (APA) (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Adolescent Well-Being: An APA Health Advisory. American Psychological Association (APA). https://www.apa.org/topics/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning/health-advisory-ai-adolescent-well-being
Related Insights
Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
Common Sense Media · 16 Jul 2025
Tech Companies and Policymakers Must Safeguard Youth Mental Health in AI Technologies
The Jed Foundation · 23 Jun 2025
Me, Myself & AI: Understanding and Safeguarding Children's Use of AI Chatbots
Internet Matters · 1 Jul 2025
When AI becomes a friend: Child rights risks, harms, and regulatory responses to AI chatbots and companions
UNICEF (with Tech Legality) · 9 Jun 2026
IEEE 2089-2021 — IEEE Standard for an Age Appropriate Digital Services Framework Based on the 5Rights Principles for Children
IEEE · 30 Nov 2021
Hand in Hand: Schools' Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks to Students
Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) · 1 Oct 2025
Social AI Companions: AI Risk Assessment
Common Sense Media; Stanford School of Medicine Brainstorm Lab for Mental Health Innovation · 30 Apr 2025
ISO/IEC 27566-1:2025 — Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection — Age assurance systems — Part 1: Framework
ISO/IEC (JTC 1/SC 27) · 16 Dec 2025
IA conversationnelle et santé mentale des jeunes : résultats de l'enquête européenne (AI*me)
CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés); Groupe VYV · 5 May 2026