General-purpose AI as a source of mental health support amongst 24,000 adolescents in England
Abstract We explored adolescents’ use and experiences of general-purpose AI/LLM platforms for mental health support in a community sample of 24,132 students in England. Overall, 2.7% ( n = 662) reported past-year use, with 55.9% (324/580) rating AI/LLM support as ‘helpful’. Most (92.1%; 610/662) had also accessed other forms of support, although 63.2% (410/649) reported wanting additional support. Both use and perceived need for additional support were concentrated amongst minoritised and more psychosocially vulnerable groups.
Authors
- Mina S. Fazel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9342-2365)
- Hannah Okechukwu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2057-8234)
- Emma Soneson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1666-3012)
- Holly Alice Bear (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6737-6120)
Institutions
- University of Oxford (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Mental Health Research
- Published
- 2026-10-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00254-x
- Primary Topic
- Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Liverpool City Council
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley