Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Mar 2024)

AI Technology panic—is AI Dependence Bad for Mental Health? A Cross-Lagged Panel Model and the Mediating Roles of Motivations for AI Use Among Adolescents

  • Huang S,
  • Lai X,
  • Ke L,
  • Li Y,
  • Wang H,
  • Zhao X,
  • Dai X,
  • Wang Y

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 1087 – 1102

Abstract

Read online

Shunsen Huang,1 Xiaoxiong Lai,1,2 Li Ke,1 Yajun Li,3 Huanlei Wang,1 Xinmei Zhao,1 Xinran Dai,1 Yun Wang1 1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Digital Education, China National Academy of Educational Sciences, Beijing, 100088, People’s Republic of China; 3Shenzhen Institute of Education Sciences, Shenzhen, 518001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yun Wang, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, XinJieKouWai St., HaiDian District, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: The emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), may manifest as technology panic in some people, including adolescents who may be particularly vulnerable to new technologies (the use of AI can lead to AI dependence, which can threaten mental health). While the relationship between AI dependence and mental health is a growing topic, the few existing studies are mainly cross-sectional and use qualitative approaches, failing to find a longitudinal relationship between them. Based on the framework of technology dependence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of experiencing AI dependence, to examine the cross-lagged effects between mental health problems (anxiety/depression) and AI dependence and to explore the mediating role of AI use motivations.Methods: A two-wave cohort program with 3843 adolescents (Male = 1848, Mage = 13.21 ± 2.55) was used with a cross-lagged panel model and a half-longitudinal mediation model.Results: 17.14% of the adolescents experienced AI dependence at T1, and 24.19% experienced dependence at T2. Only mental health problems positively predicted subsequent AI dependence, not vice versa. For AI use motivation, escape motivation and social motivation mediated the relationship between mental health problems and AI dependence whereas entertainment motivation and instrumental motivation did not.Discussion: Excessive panic about AI dependence is currently unnecessary, and AI has promising applications in alleviating emotional problems in adolescents. Innovation in AI is rapid, and more research is needed to confirm and evaluate the impact of AI use on adolescents’ mental health and the implications and future directions are discussed.Keywords: artificial intelligence dependence, mental health, anxiety, depression, artificial intelligence use motivation, adolescents

Keywords