AI-supported education, cognitive curiosity, and psychological well-being among Pakistani university students: The mediating role of learning engagement in a cross-sectional study

This study examined the relationships among AI-supported education, cognitive curiosity, learning engagement, and psychological well-being among Pakistani university students, with learning engagement investigated as a mediator. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from 395 university students in Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan, using an online structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis. The findings revealed significant positive correlations between AI-supported education and psychological well-being (r = .391, p < .01), cognitive curiosity and psychological well-being (r = .447, p < .01), and learning engagement and psychological well-being (r = .563, p < .01). The multiple regression model was statistically significant, F(3, 391) = 74.47, p < .001, explaining approximately 36.4% of the variance in psychological well-being (R² = .364). Learning engagement emerged as the strongest significant predictor (β = .418, p < .001), followed by cognitive curiosity (β = .211, p < .001), whereas AI-supported education demonstrated a positive but statistically non-significant adjusted association (β = .087, p = .075). The mediation analysis revealed positive indirect effects of AI-supported education (ab = .200) and cognitive curiosity (ab = .170) on psychological well-being through learning engagement. These findings highlight the mediating role of learning engagement in the associations between the study variables. Overall, AI-supported education, cognitive curiosity, and learning engagement were positively correlated with psychological well-being. Given the cross-sectional research design, causal relationships cannot be established.