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.