The Impact of Mindfulness Yoga on AI Anxiety among College Students: A Chain Mediation Model of Life Meaning and Psychological Resilience Moderated by Perceived Social Support
With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), AI anxiety has become an emerging psychological concern among college students. This study examined the effects of mindfulness yoga on AI anxiety and explored the underlying mechanisms involving meaning in life, psychological resilience, and perceived social support. A total of 224 college students participated in a 16-week intervention and were assigned to either a mindfulness yoga group (n = 113) or a conventional physical activity control group (n = 111). A 2 (group: mindfulness yoga vs. control) × 2 (time: pre-test vs. post-test) mixed experimental design was employed. Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that the mindfulness yoga group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in meaning in life and psychological resilience, as well as greater reductions in AI anxiety, compared with the control group (all p < 0.001). PROCESS analyses further revealed that meaning in life and psychological resilience independently mediated the relationship between mindfulness yoga and AI anxiety, and also formed a significant chain-mediating pathway. In addition, perceived social support significantly moderated the relationship between meaning in life and psychological resilience, strengthening the indirect effect of mindfulness yoga on AI anxiety under higher levels of social support. These findings suggest that mindfulness yoga is an effective intervention for reducing AI anxiety among college students by enhancing meaning in life and psychological resilience, particularly when supported by strong social support networks.
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