Adolescents' Use of AI Chatbots for Social, Emotional and Mental Health Support: A Cross-Sectional, School-Based Survey

Key Findings

• — About three-quarters of respondents had used a GenAI chatbot; 49.5% reported using one for socioemotional support and 62% for help with school difficulties
• — Mean age at first use was 12.75 years
• — 21% had used AI to share mental-health concerns and about 13% to improve their mental health; both were more common among girls
• — Early adolescents (grades 6 to 8) used AI for socioemotional support more often than middle adolescents and viewed it more positively as a wellness tool
• — 65% believed AI had helped them or a friend; 9% reported a harmful experience related to chatbot use

Methodology Notes

Convenience sample at eight Texas public charter school campuses (53% of eligible students responded); 38% grades 6 to 8, 62% grades 9 to 12; late-2025 fieldwork (the SSRN version says December 2025). Exploratory, youth-informed measures. Self-report. Not peer-reviewed; under review at a JMIR journal. An earlier version was posted on SSRN (10.2139/ssrn.7236171, Crossref record created 2026-08-07) with the same authors and data. preprints.jmir.org returns a 202 shell and r.jina.ai returned 403 this session. Verified via the Crossref posted-content records for both versions (full abstracts). Institutional affiliation not confirmed from a primary record.

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