Framework Credible

The AWARE (AI Use, Why, Attachment, Reality and Risk, and Effect on Functioning) Framework for Assessing Patients' Use of AI in Mental Health Care

Viewpoint introducing AWARE, an educational framework for mental-health professionals to assess patients' use of conversational AI during routine clinical encounters. It structures psychiatric interviewing across five domains: AI use, why (motivations), attachment (emotional significance of the interactions), reality and risk (influence on reality testing and safety), and effect on functioning. The authors present it as a structured interview approach rather than a diagnostic instrument or psychometric scale.

Read at mededu.jmir.org

Publisher

JMIR Medical Education (JMIR Publications); Université de Montréal, Department of Psychiatry and Addictology

Published

16 Sept 2026

Added

today

DOI

10.2196/108766(opens in a new tab)

Key Findings

Five interview domains: AI use, why, attachment, reality and risk, effect on functioning
Positioned as a practical educational framework for psychiatric interviewing, not a diagnostic or psychometric tool
Motivated by the gap between clinician AI-literacy training and the absence of training on assessing patients' own conversational-AI use

Methodology Notes

Viewpoint with no empirical validation reported. Affiliations from the PubMed record: Université de Montréal (Psychiatry and Addictology) and forensic psychiatry services; co-author affiliations not all listed. Published 16 September 2026 (PubMed 42749279; Crossref, with a preprint relation to 10.2196/preprints.108766). The JMIR page answers with a challenge shell to automated fetches; verified through the PubMed abstract and the Crossref record; full text not read.

Sources

JMIR Medical Education (page answers with a challenge shell to automated fetches)(opens in a new tab) (primary)

PubMed record(opens in a new tab) (16 Sept 2026)

Topics

Clinical integration Dependency & parasocial attachment Chatbot psychosis Digital mental health Human-AI relationships

Authors

Hudon, Alexandre, Bhat, Venkat, Nunez, John-Jose, Paquin, Vincent, Malouin-Lachance, Amylie, Lespérance, François

Cite This

APA

Hudon, Alexandre et al. (2026). The AWARE (AI Use, Why, Attachment, Reality and Risk, and Effect on Functioning) Framework for Assessing Patients' Use of AI in Mental Health Care. JMIR Medical Education (JMIR Publications); Université de Montréal, Department of Psychiatry and Addictology. https://mededu.jmir.org/2026/1/e108766

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