Study Links AI Health Questions With Anxiety and Depression Screening Among Young Adults

Summary

A University of Florida-led study analyzed data from nearly 100,000 young adults collected in 2023 and 2024. Participants who reported using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude for health-related questions had 52% greater odds of screening positive for clinically significant anxiety and 46% greater odds for depression than those who did not report that use. About 52% of AI health-question users screened positive for anxiety, compared with 43% of nonusers; for depression, the figures were about 47% and 38%. The associations remained after researchers accounted for age, race and ethnicity, biological sex, and socioeconomic status. The study does not show that AI use causes anxiety or depression, and it also cannot establish whether existing distress leads people to seek health information from AI. Researcher Yusen Zhai said repeated reassurance-seeking may reinforce rumination or health anxiety because conversational systems answer follow-up questions directly and can sound confident even when information is inaccurate or incomplete. Because the data come from an early period of generative AI adoption, the findings are an initial indication rather than a complete picture. The researchers recommend further study and suggest that mental-health professionals and universities help young people evaluate AI-generated health information and notice whether interactions support constructive action or repeated questioning.