The Emerging Roles of AI in Self-Directed Stress Management: Systematic Review
AI Summary
AI-enabled systems provide five core functions: psychological interventions, behavioural support, psychoeducation, companionship and emotional support, plus stress monitoring, detection and triage.
These functions help users identify stress, regulate responses, and engage in self-directed coping outside formal clinical care.
Evidence is preliminary: 35 studies met inclusion criteria, methodological quality was appraised, and findings remain fragmented, requiring further rigorous evaluation.
J Med Internet Res. 2026 Jun 24;28:e90709. doi: 10.2196/90709.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Stress is widespread and carries substantial mental health, social, and economic burdens. Yet, access to clinician-led stress management remains constrained by service capacity, cost, and stigma. In response, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools have rapidly proliferated as scalable, self-directed options. However, evidence on how these systems support stress management outside formal clinical settings remains fragmented.
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to synthesize empirical evidence on how AI-enabled technologies are used for self-directed stress management. We mapped the emerging functions of these tools, the psychological frameworks informing their design, the populations and settings studied, and the outcomes reported.
METHODS: We conducted a PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)-compliant systematic review of English-language studies published between 2000 and 2025. Six databases were searched (APA PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, ProQuest, and Google Scholar).
RESULTS: Of 3008 records identified, 35 studies met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of included studies was critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (version 2018). Findings illustrated that AI-supported stress management can operate through 5 core functions, including psychological intervention, behavioral support, psychoeducation, companionship, and emotional support, and stress monitoring, detection, and triage. Across the reviewed studies, these functions supported self-directed stress management by helping users identify stress, regulate responses, and engage in coping outside formal clinical care.
CONCLUSIONS: AI-enabled systems show preliminary promise for supporting self-directed stress management through multiple user-facing functions grounded in established psychological frameworks.
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