Supplementary file 2_Perceived support from AI chatbots and loneliness among higher vocational college students: a short-term three-wave study of social interaction anxiety and perceived social support.docx

The revised observed-composite cross-lagged panel model showed that T2 perceived support from AI chatbots negatively predicted T3 loneliness. At the same time, T1 and T2 perceived support from AI chatbots positively predicted social interaction anxiety at the following wave, and social interaction anxiety further predicted loneliness at the following wave. The longitudinal mediation analysis indicated that T1 perceived support from AI chatbots indirectly predicted T3 loneliness through T2 social interaction anxiety.

T1 perceived social support moderated the associations of T2 perceived support from AI chatbots with T3 loneliness and T3 social interaction anxiety: under high perceived social support, perceived support from AI chatbots was more likely to be associated with lower subsequent loneliness; under low perceived social support, this compensatory association was not significant. These findings suggest that the psychological meaning of support from AI chatbots is conditional.

AI literacy and mental health education in colleges should attend to how AI-based support can be connected with real social support networks.</p>