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Heavier problem smartphone use goes with more chatbot dependence, a 538-user study finds
Study title: Problematic smartphone use and AI chatbot dependence: A cross-sectional study using latent profile and dimensional analyses
- Evidence type
- Observational study
- Sample
- n = 538
- Sources
- 1 sourcePeer-reviewed
- Published
- 2 min read
- Truvace record
- TRV-2026-2531cite or check it
Study title: Problematic smartphone use and AI chatbot dependence: A cross-sectional study using latent profile and dimensional analyses
A cross-sectional study of 538 AI chatbot users found that people with more severe problematic smartphone use also showed more dependency on AI chatbots. Latent profile analysis split users into low-symptom (16%), moderate-symptom (46%) and high-symptom (38%) smartphone-use groups.
Read the study abstract
ABSTRACT As generative artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in everyday, educational, and work-related contexts, increasing attention has been directed to dependency-related forms of AI chatbot use. Problematic smartphone use (PSU) may reflect broader dysregulated digital engagement and may therefore be relevant to understanding dependency-related AI chatbot use. However, little is known about whether PSU is associated with AI chatbot dependency or whether AI-related evaluative factors show diff…
The problem
In a cross-sectional study of 538 AI chatbot users, higher problematic smartphone use was positively associated with AI chatbot dependency, and 38% of users fell in the high-symptom group.
In brief
The groups formed an ordered severity gradient rather than distinct symptom types, and chatbot dependency differed across them. A second model that treated smartphone use as a continuous measure supported the same positive link.
The authors say the findings suggest chatbot dependency may sit within broader patterns of dysregulated digital engagement. Because the data are self-reported and collected at one point in time, the work cannot show that one behavior causes the other.
Main points
- The study analyzed data from 538 AI chatbot users and was guided by the I-PACE model.
- Latent profile analysis found three smartphone-use groups: low-symptom (16%), moderate-symptom (46%) and high-symptom (38%).
- The three groups formed an ordered severity gradient, not distinct symptom configurations.
- AI chatbot dependency differed across the smartphone-use groups.
- Emotional experience was involved in several statistical indirect associations between AI-use evaluations and chatbot dependency.
- Formal between-group differences were limited to the link between performance expectancy and chatbot dependency, and the continuous model did not reproduce it.
The full story
Researchers recruited 538 people who use AI chatbots and applied latent profile analysis to their problematic smartphone use scores, guided by the I-PACE model of addictive behavior. The analysis produced three severity-based groups, with 16% in the low-symptom group, 46% in the moderate group and 38% in the high-symptom group.
The groups differed mainly in severity rather than in kind. A supplementary model using continuous smartphone-use scores supported a positive association between smartphone-use problems and chatbot dependency.
Emotional experience appeared in several significant indirect associations between how users evaluated AI and their chatbot dependency. The only formal difference between groups involved performance expectancy and dependency, and the authors call that finding exploratory because the continuous model did not reproduce it.
Sources
1 on file- Computers in Human Behavior Reportsdoi:10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101337
Talk it over
Who carries this cost, and what would have to change to prevent it?
Heavier problem smartphone use goes with more chatbot dependence, a 538-user study findshttps://truvace.com/item/problematic-smartphone-use-and-ai-chatbot-dependence-a-cross-sectional-study-usi
Who carries this cost, and what would have to change to prevent it?
The problem In a cross-sectional study of 538 AI chatbot users, higher problematic smartphone use was positively associated with AI chatbot dependency, and 38% of users fell in the high-symptom group.
Answer in the threadHow do we know? What can this kind of evidence show, and what can’t it?
The evidence This rests on an observational study with a sample of 538, from Computers in Human Behavior Reports.
Answer in the threadWhat does it leave open? What else would you want to know before acting on it?
The record’s own caveat The study used a cross-sectional, self-report design, and the profile-specific performance expectancy finding was not reproduced in the continuous model, so it is exploratory.
Answer in the threadHave you seen AI used this way where you study, work or live? Did it go the same way?
Answer in the thread
The questions are the same on every record. The details under them are taken from this record as written.
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