Social anxiety, loneliness, and learning difficulties in primary school students: examining the roles of loneliness and AI usage frequency

This study examined the association between social anxiety and learning difficulties among primary school students, with a focus on the mediating role of loneliness and the moderating role of artificial intelligence (AI) usage frequency. A total of 800 students in Grades 1 to 6 were surveyed using the Social Anxiety Scale for Children, the Children’s Learning Adaptability Questionnaire, the Children’s Loneliness Scale, and the AI Usage Questionnaire. After data screening, 597 valid responses were retained. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro. The results showed that social anxiety was positively associated with learning difficulties, and loneliness partially mediated this relationship. However, AI usage frequency did not significantly moderate the association between social anxiety and learning difficulties. Its hypothesized moderating effect on weakness symptoms, defined as fatigue-related, distractibility-related, and somatic or functional strain symptoms, was also not supported. These findings suggest that social anxiety is associated with primary school students’ learning difficulties both directly and indirectly through loneliness. The results highlight the importance of emotional and interpersonal factors in understanding learning difficulties, while suggesting that AI usage frequency alone may be insufficient to buffer the negative associations between social anxiety and learning-related outcomes.