Impact of AI Literacy on Well-Being Among Nursing Students —Mediating Roles of Empowerment and Anxiety: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care is changing nursing practice, and it calls for the acquisition of AI literacy by students, which includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes. An understanding of the effect of AI literacy on the well-being and empowerment of students is crucial in guiding effective educational strategies. Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of AI literacy on well-being, with psychological empowerment and anxiety serving as mediating variables. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study examines gender differences within these relationships. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used, and data were gathered from 497 nursing students from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, via a structured online questionnaire assessing AI literacy, psychological empowerment, anxiety, and well-being. PLS-SEM was used to evaluate both the measurement and structural models, encompassing mediation and multigroup analyses based on gender. Results: The constructs demonstrated substantial reliability and validity, and the model’s fit was deemed satisfactory. Well-being was moderately accounted for (R2=0.41), whereas empowerment and anxiety exhibited lower levels of explained variance. All hypotheses were supported, indicating that AI literacy positively influenced empowerment and negatively affected both anxiety and well-being. Furthermore, empowerment was found to negatively impact both anxiety and well-being. The mediation effects were significant, and no gender differences were observed. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that AI literacy significantly influences psychological empowerment, anxiety, and overall well-being through both direct and indirect pathways. The findings elucidate the intricate relationships among these variables and provide evidence for the applicability of the model across genders. This underscores the critical importance of promoting AI literacy and empowerment as a means to improve well-being outcomes.