The Unique Contribution of Digital Maturity in the AI Era: Psychometric Validation, Predictive Ability and Latent Profile Analysis Among Chinese Primary Students

Editorial reading guide · Independence

Does my child use digital tools thoughtfully, or mainly feel familiar with them?

Connects Independence to reflective digital competence rather than assuming that frequent device use makes a child AI literate. Digital maturity was associated with AI literacy beyond a digital-native measure; the three profiles also show why children may need different kinds of support.

Study context

434 Chinese primary pupils in the validation/AI-literacy sample; 1,026 pupils across two schools in the combined profile analysis

Age / stage: Primary school; combined mean age 10.38 years

Read with three questions

1. Which dimensions of digital maturity describe deliberate choices rather than time spent online?
2. Why does the association with AI literacy fail to show that teaching maturity causes better AI judgment?
3. How might the uneven profiles prompt a conversation about a particular skill my child wants to strengthen?

Keep the limits in view

Convenience samples from two southern Chinese primary schools, self-report measures, and a cross-sectional design limit generalization and causal inference. The combined schools differed in grade composition, and profile stability and measurement invariance require further validation. No home intervention was tested.