From AI coaching to athletic engagement: the mediating roles of cognitive adaptability and growth mindset in sports students

BACKGROUND: AI-supported coaching tools are increasingly incorporated into sport education, yet limited research has examined how students' perceptions of these technologies relate to their cognitive and motivational functioning. This study investigates perceived AI-supported coaching and its relationship to athletic learning engagement among sports-major students, with cognitive adaptability and a growth mindset as mediators. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in March 2025 at universities in Dezhou, Shandong Province, that offer sports degree programs. The final analytic sample comprised 1,794 sports-major students. Validated Chinese measures assessed perceived AI-supported coaching, cognitive adaptability, growth mindset, and athletic learning engagement. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapped indirect effects was used to examine mediation pathways, and sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of indirect effects across alternative model specifications. RESULTS: Perceived AI-supported coaching was positively associated with cognitive adaptability and, to a lesser extent, with engagement. Cognitive adaptability was positively associated with both growth mindset and engagement. The indirect effect of AI-supported coaching on engagement via cognitive adaptability was significant, as was the sequential pathway through cognitive adaptability and growth mindset. In contrast, the indirect pathway through growth mindset alone was not significant. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the pattern and significance of indirect effects remained stable across alternative model specifications, supporting the robustness of the mediation findings. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that cognitive adaptability serves as a meaningful intermediary linking perceived AI-supported coaching with students' engagement in athletic learning, whereas growth mindset primarily operates within a sequential cognitive-motivational pathway. These results underscore the importance of considering both cognitive and belief-based processes when integrating AI-supported tools into sport education.