Loneliness and problematic use of conversational artificial intelligence among college students: the serial mediating roles of social anxiety and self-control.
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Loneliness is an important public health concern associated with individuals' physical and mental wellbeing. As conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) becomes more widely used, concerns about its problematic use have attracted increasing attention. However, the link between loneliness and problematic use of conversational artificial intelligence (PUCAI) remains insufficiently understood. The current research explored the link between loneliness and PUCAI among college students, with social anxiety and self-control evaluated as serial mediators. These findings provide preliminary empirical insight into the psychological correlates of PUCAI and may inform future research and educational efforts aimed at promoting healthy and responsible CAI use.
Methods: Using convenience sampling, this cross-sectional study analyzed data from 400 undergraduate students enrolled at a university in western China. Research instruments included the Loneliness Scale, the PUCAI Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale, and the Self-Control Scale. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were computed with IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. Serial mediation was examined with Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 6), and indirect effects were evaluated using 5,000 bootstrap resamples with 95% confidence intervals.
Results: Greater loneliness was linked to higher PUCAI. Social anxiety and self-control each showed significant indirect associations, and the proposed statistical model indicated a significant serial indirect effect involving these two variables.
Conclusion: The results offer further insight into the potential psychological pathways associated with PUCAI among college students. The findings suggest that loneliness, social anxiety, and self-regulatory capacities may represent potentially relevant factors to consider in future research and prevention efforts aimed at promoting healthy and responsible CAI use.
期刊介绍：
Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.
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