Working with the American Psychological Association on youth mental health and AI

Young people already use AI to learn, create, ask questions, and seek advice. As that use grows, families, schools, clinicians, and communities need clearer evidence, better resources, and stronger safeguards. That’s why we’re working with the American Psychological Association (APA) to bring psychological science into how we think about responsible AI development and use among young people. APA is the leading scientific and professional organization for psychology in the United States, whose evidence-grounded work will help clarify what is known, what is uncertain, and what responsible AI should look like as the technology evolves. 

“Technology is part of teens’ lives, and our responsibility is to meet that reality with experiences that are safe, age-appropriate, and designed with families in mind. AI should strengthen—not replace—the real world relationships and care young people rely on,” said Dr. Sara Johansen, head of mental health and well-being product policy at OpenAI. “This partnership builds on our ongoing work with experts. By working with the APA and other leading experts, we’re continuing to ground our approach in evidence and develop practical safeguards that put teens’ wellbeing first.”

Earlier this year, we co-hosted a productive convening with the APA that brought together leaders from mental health organizations, researchers, clinicians, educators, and youth representatives to discuss where young people face gaps in support today, and where AI may responsibly help people find information and connect to real-world support.

Building on these conversations, we expect this work to span several areas—including how AI can support young people in moments of distress, how it can be designed to be more developmentally appropriate and useful, and how parents, caregivers, and clinicians can be better equipped to guide young people’s AI use. Throughout, this work will be grounded in the science of human behavior and the voices and lived experiences of parents, caregivers, teachers, and young people themselves. Over time, that work can help inform stronger safeguards and evidence informed approaches to how AI should show up in young people's lives.

One early focus is giving parents and caregivers practical tools for navigating AI use at home, especially as teens start using these tools. Working with APA, we plan to develop family-facing resources to help parents and caregivers support healthy use, recognize when adult intervention may be appropriate, and reinforce AI as a tool, not a replacement for people or care. We intend to make this guidance broadly accessible across school communities as well.

We are also working with APA to support practitioners who are increasingly fielding questions about AI. Planned work includes resources for clinicians and school psychologists focused on promoting healthy AI usage, recognizing overreliance, and intervening in unhealthy use patterns. We will also continue convening leaders across healthcare, education, research, policy, technology, and youth advocacy to translate emerging lessons into practical guidance for the broader field.

It is essential that these efforts are grounded in and shaped by those with lived experience, not based on assumptions. We will work with APA to convene teens, families, clinicians, school psychologists, and others to help us better understand how young people are using AI, how AI-related questions are showing up in schools, therapy, and family settings, where current systems are falling short, and where AI may responsibly help with access, education, or navigation. 

This work builds on OpenAI's efforts to improve how ChatGPT responds in sensitive moments and supports younger users. We work with more than 260 mental health experts to help ChatGPT better recognize signs of distress, respond with care, and guide people toward real-world support. We have also expanded access to localized crisis resources and one-click hotlines, added reminders to take a break, and introduced additional protections for younger users, including parental controls, notifying parents of safety concerns, etc., under-18 principles in our Model Spec, and an age prediction model that helps apply the right experience and safeguards.

AI may help people find information and navigate systems earlier, but young people's well-being depends on strong human relationships and trustworthy support. We’re glad to be working with the APA, alongside the many researchers, clinicians, and educators we continue to learn from, as we work to make sure AI truly supports young people and those who care for, support, and guide them.