Concerns that chatbot use can cause mental and physical harm have prompted policies that require AI chatbots to deliver regular or constant reminders that they are not human. In an opinion paper publishing January 28 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, researchers argue that these policies may be ineffective or even harmful because they could exacerbate mental distress in already isolated individuals. The researchers say that reminding chatbot users of their companions’ non-human nature may be useful in some contexts, but these reminders must be carefully crafted and timed to avoid unintended negative consequences.

A new study, published today in JAMA Network Open and led by Cynthia Fontanella, PhD, principal investigator for the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, is the first large-scale study to examine multi-level risk and protective factors for suicide among Medicaid-enrolled Black youth with a lifetime mental health diagnosis.

Pressure to achieve at school at age 15 is linked to depressive symptoms and risk of self-harm, and the association appears to persist into adulthood, finds a study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

Suicide hotline calls increase with rising nighttime temperatures (by 168% for temperatures in the hottest 99th percentile), which could warrant temperature-triggered staffing protocols.