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TRUVACE RECORD VERSION
record: TRV-2026-2580
version: 1
kind: certified
reason: Certified into the record
timestamp: 2026-11-12T07:57:11.150526Z
status: published
lens: p_space
sector: education
headline: Loneliness and generative AI use for companionship among college students
dek: Generative AI chatbots are a new class of artificial agents that young adults may turn to for emotional companionship, raising questions for the study of interaction between humans and AI. Whether loneliness uniquely predicts AI use for companionship, and whether any such association is specific to companionship-seeking rather than general AI use, has not been examined in a U.S. college sample. Using data from the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) 2024-2025, we examined predictors of AI companionship use among U.S. coll…
gain_title: (none)
problem_title: In a survey of 858 US college students, 17% used AI for companionship, and each step up in loneliness was linked to higher odds of doing so (OR 1.21), a link not seen for general AI use.
trace_subject: (none)
gain_reading: (none)
gain_evidence: (none)
problem_reading: In a survey of 858 US college students, 17% used AI for companionship, and each step up in loneliness was linked to higher odds of doing so (OR 1.21), a link not seen for general AI use.
problem_evidence: Seventeen percent of students reported using AI for companionship. | Loneliness was uniquely associated with AI companionship use, but not with general AI use
quick_read: An analysis of Healthy Minds Study 2024-2025 data from 858 US college students found that 17% used generative AI for companionship. After adjusting for demographics and mental health symptoms, loneliness was uniquely associated with companionship use (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.36) but not with general AI use.

The pattern suggests companionship-seeking is a distinct way of interacting with AI chatbots rather than a by-product of heavy general use. In a model comparing non-users, general-only users and companionship users, loneliness separated companionship users from the others and predicted more frequent companionship use in a dose-dependent pattern.

Neither campus belonging nor satisfaction with social relationships predicted companionship use. Asian and international students were more likely to use AI this way, while LGBQ+ students were less likely. The data are cross-sectional, so the authors treat loneliness as a candidate predictor to be tested in longitudinal research.
limitation: Because the data are cross-sectional, the study cannot show that loneliness leads to AI companionship use; loneliness is framed as a candidate predictor to be confirmed in longitudinal research.
tag: Evidence-backed problem
key_points: The sample came from the Healthy Minds Study 2024-2025 and included 858 US college students. | Seventeen percent of students reported using AI for companionship. | Loneliness was associated with companionship use after full adjustment (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.36, p < .01) but not with general AI use. | Campus belonging and satisfaction with social relationships did not predict companionship use. | Asian and international students were more likely to use AI for companionship; LGBQ+ students were less likely. | Loneliness predicted more frequent companionship use in a dose-dependent pattern.
rundown: Researchers used hierarchical logistic regression on Healthy Minds Study 2024-2025 responses to test whether loneliness uniquely predicted AI companionship use after adjusting for demographics and mental health symptoms. They ran the same test for general AI use to see whether any link was specific to companionship.

Loneliness was associated with companionship use but not general use, which the authors read as specificity to companionship-seeking. A combined model contrasting non-users, general-only users and companionship users gave the same result: loneliness distinguished the companionship group (p < 0.01).

Two measures of social connection, campus belonging and satisfaction with social relationships, did not predict companionship use. Differences by group appeared: Asian and international students used AI for companionship more often, and LGBQ+ students less often.
sources:
- peer_reviewed | Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbah.2026.100348 | 2026-07-06
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