{
  "abstract": "Purpose of Review: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a routine source of health information, emotional support, and companionship. As its use expands, the key public health question is not only whether these tools can support care, but whether their deployment is aligned with the mental health needs of the community. In this commentary, we argue that general-purpose AI systems pose distinct psychosocial risks, especially for young people and those experiencing loneliness or psychological distress.\n\nRecent Findings: Emerging evidence suggests that sustained chatbot use may be associated with loneliness, reduced socialisation, emotional dependence, and problematic use, while sycophantic model behaviour may undermine users' capacity for self-correction and sustain a feedback loop of engagement. Current AI policy frameworks address governance and safety, but do not yet provide a coordinated response to these mental health risks.\n\nSummary: Realising the benefits of AI without preventable community-level harm will require independent longitudinal research, psychosocial safety benchmarking, transparent post-deployment monitoring, and safety by design principles.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia",
    "School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, College of Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, Australia",
    "Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, UK",
    "Faculty of Mechatronics, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ashley M. Hopkins",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7652-4378"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Natansh D. Modi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3262-5374"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Rowland"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Timothy J. Schultz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Kacper T. Gradon"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Malcolm W. Battersby"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Bradley D. Menz",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0855-5081"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dsmvfc0s0y6q7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s11920-026-01723-y",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13736334/",
  "id": "dsmvfc0s0y6q7",
  "issns": [
    "1523-3812",
    "1535-1645"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-026-01723-y",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Comment"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1702|Ethics and Social Impacts of AI"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7225260334",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13736334",
  "pmid": "42980879",
  "published": "2026-11-04",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dsmvfc0s0y6q7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T12:21:48Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13736334",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-026-01723-y"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "Sycophancy and Extended Engagement with Publicly Accessible Generative AI: Aligning Deployment with Mental Health Needs",
  "title_text": "Sycophancy and Extended Engagement with Publicly Accessible Generative AI: Aligning Deployment with Mental Health Needs",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T12:21:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dsmvfc0s0y6q7",
  "venue": "Current Psychiatry Reports",
  "versions": []
}