Anxiety, emotional abuse, and physical activity as correlates of AI-related affective dependence among adolescents: mediation, moderation, and network analyses

ObjectiveDrawing on attachment and emotion-regulation perspectives, this cross-sectional study examined the associations among emotional abuse (EA), anxiety, physical activity (PA), and AI-related affective dependence (hereafter, AI dependence) among adolescents.MethodsIn November 2025, a total of 1,589 Chinese adolescents completed self-report questionnaires assessing EA, anxiety, PA, and AI dependence. Descriptive analyses, Pearson correlations, mediation and moderated mediation models, and a covariate-adjusted partial-correlation network were conducted. Common method bias was evaluated using both Harman’s single-factor test and a CFA-based unmeasured latent method construct (ULMC) approach.ResultsEA was positively associated with anxiety and AI dependence and negatively associated with PA. Anxiety statistically accounted for a small but significant proportion of the EA-AI dependence association [indirect effect = 0.034, 95% CI (0.013, 0.055), 16.43% of the total association]. PA moderated the EA-anxiety association; the positive association was weaker among adolescents reporting higher PA. In the network analysis, the EA-anxiety edge was the strongest conditional association, and EA showed the highest node strength, although these findings should be interpreted descriptively rather than causally.ConclusionThe findings suggest that anxiety and PA are meaningful correlates in the association between EA and AI dependence. Because the data are cross-sectional, the results indicate statistical associations rather than temporal or causal mechanisms.