‘I don’t care if Chat GPT isn’t a therapist, it’s helping!’.
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| Title: | ‘I don’t care if Chat GPT isn’t a therapist, it’s helping!’. |
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| Authors: | van’t Land, Hedda, Busato, Vittorio |
| Source: | Psychologist. Jun2026, p36-39. 4p. 2 Color Photographs. |
| Subjects: | Chatbots, Cognitive development, Social support, Teenagers, Cognitive processing speed, Mental health, Mental illness risk factors, Cognitive therapy |
| Abstract: | This article examines why adolescents increasingly turn to AI chatbots like ChatGPT for emotional support and the potential psychological risks involved. It explains that adolescents’ developing cognitive capacities, particularly the slower maturation of reflective, analytical System 2 thinking, make them more reliant on fast, intuitive System 1 responses, which AI chatbots readily provide through immediate, affirming interactions. While chatbots offer validation and emotional mirroring that feel comforting, they lack the critical, challenging engagement central to evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which aims to foster reflective thinking and tolerance of uncertainty. The authors highlight concerns that AI chatbots, designed to maximize user engagement rather than psychological recovery, may reinforce cognitive biases and co-rumination, potentially exacerbating mental health issues among vulnerable youth. They call for psychological, ethical, and regulatory oversight to ensure AI systems used by adolescents meet standards aligned with developmental science and responsible mental health care. [Extracted from the article] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | This article examines why adolescents increasingly turn to AI chatbots like ChatGPT for emotional support and the potential psychological risks involved. It explains that adolescents’ developing cognitive capacities, particularly the slower maturation of reflective, analytical System 2 thinking, make them more reliant on fast, intuitive System 1 responses, which AI chatbots readily provide through immediate, affirming interactions. While chatbots offer validation and emotional mirroring that feel comforting, they lack the critical, challenging engagement central to evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which aims to foster reflective thinking and tolerance of uncertainty. The authors highlight concerns that AI chatbots, designed to maximize user engagement rather than psychological recovery, may reinforce cognitive biases and co-rumination, potentially exacerbating mental health issues among vulnerable youth. They call for psychological, ethical, and regulatory oversight to ensure AI systems used by adolescents meet standards aligned with developmental science and responsible mental health care. [Extracted from the article] |
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| ISSN: | 09528229 |
