mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

PeerPen: AI-Assisted Writing for Online Mental Health Peer Support

arXiv 2609.14886 ↗First posted 14 Sep 2026cs.HC cs.AI cs.CLcited by 0

Not on the map. Why?

Abstract (arXiv)

Online mental health communities thrive on peer support, yet those who volunteer to help often lack formal training and may struggle to articulate supportive responses. AI co-writing could lower this barrier; however, peer support derives much of its value from being perceived as personal, raising questions around authorship, ownership, and trust. We built PeerPen, a writing assistance tool embedded within a Reddit-like interface, supporting two main features: draft generation and revision of user-written responses. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, we find that PeerPen reduced the burden of composing responses and increased confidence in offering support. Participants wanted AI to assist their writing without taking over authorship and anticipated tensions around authenticity and trust. Such assistance could make authorship uncertain even for responses written without it, weakening trust across the community. We contribute design implications for AI writing assistance that scaffolds supportive communication, preserves authorship, and accounts for community-level trust.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 36 of its 80 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 14 Sep 2026.

Builds on

36 of 80 references.

References · 36

  1. 2022Human heuristics for AI-generated language are flawedcited by 105
  2. 2022Evaluating Human-Language Model Interactioncited by 92
  3. 2021Sparks: Inspiration for Science Writing using Language Modelscited by 80
  4. 2023Cognitive Reframing of Negative Thoughts through Human-Language Model Interactioncited by 77
  5. 2024A Design Space for Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistantscited by 76
  6. 2025Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providerscited by 69
  7. 2023Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-Creationcited by 64
  8. 2023Rehearsal: Simulating Conflict to Teach Conflict Resolutioncited by 55
  9. 2023Facilitating Self-Guided Mental Health Interventions Through Human-Language Model Interaction: A Case Study of Cognitive Restructuringcited by 53
  10. 2024Shaping Human-AI Collaboration: Varied Scaffolding Levels in Co-writing with Language Modelscited by 51
  11. 2024From Lived Experience to Insight: Unpacking the Psychological Risks of Using AI Conversational Agentscited by 25
  12. 2023Helping the Helper: Supporting Peer Counselors via AI-Empowered Practice and Feedbackcited by 23
24 more
  1. 2025CounselBench: A Large-Scale Expert Evaluation and Adversarial Benchmarking of Large Language Models in Mental Health Question Answeringcited by 21
  2. 2023The Role of Inclusion, Control, and Ownership in Workplace AI-Mediated Communicationcited by 19
  3. 2024Multi-Level Feedback Generation with Large Language Models for Empowering Novice Peer Counselorscited by 16
  4. 2025Co-Writing with AI, on Human Terms: Aligning Research with User Demands Across the Writing Processcited by 14
  5. 2025Can LLM-Simulated Practice and Feedback Upskill Human Counselors? A Randomized Study with 90+ Novice Counselorscited by 13
  6. 2025Mapping Caregiver Needs to AI Chatbot Design: Strengths and Gaps in Mental Health Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregiverscited by 13
  7. 2020The Effect of Moderation on Online Mental Health Conversationscited by 12
  8. 2025Script&Shift: A Layered Interface Paradigm for Integrating Content Development and Rhetorical Strategy with LLM Writing Assistantscited by 12
  9. 2026RubRIX: Rubric-Driven Risk Mitigation in Caregiver-AI Interactionscited by 10
  10. 2025Where Do I 'Add the Egg'?: Exploring Agency and Ownership in AI Creative Co-Writing Systemscited by 7
  11. 2025Just-In-Time Objectives: A General Approach for Specialized AI Interactionscited by 7
  12. 2026PAIR-SAFE: A Paired-Agent Approach for Runtime Auditing and Refining AI-Mediated Mental Health Supportcited by 7
  13. 2025Intent Tagging: Exploring Micro-Prompting Interactions for Supporting Granular Human-GenAI Co-Creation Workflowscited by 6
  14. 2025Linguistic Comparison of AI- and Human-Written Responses to Online Mental Health Queriescited by 6
  15. 2026AI Psychosis: Does Conversational AI Amplify Delusion-Related Language?cited by 5
  16. 2026CALM-IT: Enhancing Synthetic Motivational Interviewing Dialogue Quality with Conversational Dynamicscited by 3
  17. 2026Beyond the Single Turn: Reframing Refusals as Dynamic Experiences Embedded in the Context of Mental Health Support Interactions with LLMscited by 3
  18. 2026MHSafeEval: Role-Aware Interaction-Level Evaluation of Mental Health Safety in Large Language Modelscited by 3
  19. 2025When Scaffolding Breaks: Investigating Student Interaction with LLM-Based Writing Support in Real-Time K-12 EFL Classroomscited by 2
  20. 2026Responsible Evaluation of AI for Mental Healthcited by 2
  21. 2026LLUMI: Improving LLM Writing Assistance for Mental Health Support with Online Community Feedbackcited by 2
  22. 2026AI Personalization Paradox: Personalized AI Increases Superficial Engagement in Reading while Undermines Autonomy and Ownership in Writingcited by 1
  23. 2026From Use to Oversight: How Mental Models Influence User Behavior and Output in AI Writing Assistantscited by 1
  24. 2026Measuring What Matters!! Assessing Therapeutic Principles in Mental-Health Conversationcited by 1

Built on by

Not cited yet.