{
  "abstract": "University students increasingly use artificial intelligence tools for learning, decision-making, and academic work, making perceived AI dependence a relevant issue for public mental health and digital public health rather than only for educational technology. This three-wave time-lagged survey examined whether experiential avoidance functioned as a putative explanatory process linking perceived AI dependence with later anxiety symptoms and whether digital literacy moderated the tested pathways. Online survey data were collected from 1,451 university students with AI-use experience; perceived AI dependence, digital literacy, and baseline demographic variables were measured in January 2026, experiential avoidance was measured in March 2026, and anxiety symptoms were measured in June 2026. PLS-SEM results showed that experiential avoidance was strongly and positively associated with later anxiety symptoms (beta = 0.677, p < 0.001), whereas the direct association between perceived AI dependence and anxiety symptoms was not significant (beta = -0.030, p = 0.147); perceived AI dependence was negatively associated with experiential avoidance (beta = -0.114, p < 0.001), producing a statistically significant but theoretically unexpected negative time-ordered indirect association (beta = -0.077, p < 0.001), and digital literacy did not significantly moderate the tested pathways. The findings suggest that anxiety symptoms in AI-mediated learning contexts are closely linked to avoidance-related psychological processes, while the meaning of perceived AI dependence is context-dependent and should not be equated automatically with harmful use or clinical addiction; campus mental-health promotion should therefore integrate responsible AI education with support for psychological flexibility, uncertainty tolerance, and autonomous learning.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Educational Sciences, Xinxiang University",
    "Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia",
    "School of Music, Xinxiang University",
    "School of Education, Weifang University of Science and Technology"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xu Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zhenggui Gu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Lulu Shi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/44chxfatya0s8.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13724574/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "44chxfatya0s8",
  "issns": [
    "1664-0640"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "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",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1710|Artificial Intelligence in Education"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222919648",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13724574",
  "pmid": "42973787",
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/44chxfatya0s8.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:18Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T15:20:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13724574",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724574"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:23:07Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13724574",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1934192"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:48Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42973787",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42973787"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:1664-0640",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Perceived artificial intelligence dependence and anxiety symptoms among university students: a three-wave study of experiential avoidance and digital literacy",
  "title_text": "Perceived artificial intelligence dependence and anxiety symptoms among university students: a three-wave study of experiential avoidance and digital literacy",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T12:21:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/44chxfatya0s8",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Psychiatry",
  "versions": []
}