ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
This article is part of the Research TopicAI in Public Health Teaching and Education: Current Trends and Future OutlookView all 7 articles
The Impact of Generative AI Health Knowledge Acquisition on Adolescents' Physical Activity: The Mediating Role of Exercise Self-Efficacy and the Moderating Effect of Health Information Literacy
Provisionally accepted
- 1黔南民族师范学院, 都匀市, China
- 2Zunyi Medical University - Zhuhai Campus, Zhuhai, China
- 3Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
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Background: This study investigates the impact of generative artificial intelligence health knowledge acquisition (GAI-HKA) on adolescents' physical activity (PA), with a focus on the mediating role of exercise self-efficacy (ESE) and the moderating role of health information literacy (HIL). Methods: Using stratified cluster random sampling, a total of 2,306 valid questionnaires were collected from 10 secondary schools across five cities in southern China. Data were obtained using the self-developed Generative AI Health Knowledge Acquisition Scale, the Adolescent Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, the Health Information Literacy Scale, and Liang's revised Physical Activity Rating Scale. Structural equation modelling with PROCESS v3.5 macro (5,000 bootstraps) was employed to test direct, mediating, and moderating effects. Results: GAI-HKA was significantly and positively associated with adolescents' PA (β = 0.376, p < 0.001). ESE partially mediated this relationship (indirect effect = 0.065, 95% CI [0.052, 0.079]). HIL positively moderated the pathway from GAI-HKA to ESE (interaction term β = 0.079, p < 0.001); the effect was more substantial among adolescents with high HIL (β = 0.367) compared with those with low HIL (β = 0.209). Conclusion: GAI-HKA directly enhances adolescents' PA and indirectly promotes exercise behavior through strengthening ESE. Moreover, higher HIL amplifies the positive effect of AI-based health knowledge on ESE. These findings suggest that schools and families should integrate efforts to cultivate adolescents' information literacy and efficacy beliefs when promoting AI-based health interventions, thereby maximizing the benefits of digital technologies in fostering youth physical activity.
Keywords: generative AI health knowledge acquisition, physical activity, exercise self-efficacy, Health information literacy, adolescents
Received: 14 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Gou, Xiang, Hu and Fang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qunqun Sun
Hao Gou
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