ROLE OF AI DEPENDENCY IN PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into daily life has raised concerns about its potential psychological impacts, particularly among students. This study investigates the relationship between AI dependency and psychological distress, as well as its effects on academic adjustment among university students. The purpose of the study is to partial out the role of AI dependency in predicting psychological distress and academic adjustment of the participants and to investigate the relationship between artificial dependency and psychological distress among university students. There were 300 people in the sample, ranging in age from 18 to 37. Random sampling was used to choose the sample. Academic performance, anxiety, stress, and depression are the four main elements that are the subject of this study's investigation into the determinants of AI dependency. To find out how these factors affect university students' dependency on AI, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was used. The findings show that dependence on AI is significantly positively predicted by academic performance, with better academic achievement being associated with more reliance on AI. Significant positive predictors for stress, anxiety, and depression were also found, indicating that people who have greater levels of these psychological variables are more inclined to rely on AI technology. In particular, the greatest percentage of the variance in AI dependency was explained by academic performance, which was followed by stress, anxiety, and depression. This study adds to the expanding literature of research on AI's effects on mental health and sheds light on the psychological variables influencing young adults' and adolescents' AI usage habits.