Artificial Intelligence in Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Hybrid Human–AI Care Models

Abstract

Mental health disorders among children and adolescents have become increasingly
common and burdensome, with conditions such as anxiety, depression, suicidality,
and trauma-related disorders contributing significantly to disability and death. While
timely identification and intervention are vital, progress is often limited by the
scarcity of trained providers, ongoing stigma, and dependence on subjective
evaluation methods. Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence (AI) is being
explored to improve mental healthcare through enhanced early detection,
monitoring, individualized interventions, and clinical decision support. This
narrative review synthesizes research and systematic reviews from 2015 to 2025,
sourced from Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed Central, PsycINFO, Science
Direct, and EBSCO. Articles included focused on AI applications in children and
adolescents’ mental health, highlighting advances in machine learning, natural
language processing, multimodal data integration, and digital cognitive-behavioral
therapy. Evidence suggests that AI can analyze behavioral, physiological, and
linguistic data to predict mental health risks, detect emerging symptoms, and deliver
personalized interventions within a hybrid human–AI care model, where AI
complements clinician expertise to improve access, engagement, and treatment
outcomes. However, challenges persist, including algorithmic bias, limited model
interpretability, data quality, privacy concerns, and integration into clinical
workflows. Ethical and practical governance are essential to ensure that AI supports,
rather than replaces, human-centered care. Future priorities include expanding
research on underrepresented populations and conditions, developing explainable
and equitable models, validating tools in real-world settings, and building large,
FAIR-compliant datasets. Responsible, human-centered integration of AI has the
potential to improve early intervention, personalize treatment, and enhance equitable
access to mental healthcare for young people globally.