{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T04:45:30Z","timestamp":1785732330732,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010838","name":"Guangdong Philosophy and Social Science Project","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["GD25YJY49"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GD25YJY49"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010838","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009019","name":"Shenzhen University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009019","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01vy4gh70","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Intell."],"abstract":"<jats:p>With the widespread use of digital technologies, it has become increasingly important to understand how children adapt to digital environments. However, limited research has examined digital maturity among children beyond digital access and familiarity with technologies, particularly in non-Western contexts. Building on recent work on digital maturity, the present study aimed to validate the Digital Maturity Inventory (DIMI) among Chinese primary school students and to identify their latent profiles. A sample of 434 students (221 girls; Meanage = 10.68, SD = 0.86) completed the DIMI for validation analyses, and an additional sample was simultaneously recruited, resulting in a total sample of 1026 students (500 girls; Meanage = 10.38, SD = 1.09), for latent profile analysis. The findings demonstrated that the DIMI exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties in the Chinese context. Moreover, digital maturity, in addition to digital native, emerged as a unique and significant predictor of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy. Three distinct subgroups of students with heterogeneous patterns of digital maturity were also revealed: an unbalanced low group, an inconsistent medium group, and a relatively high group. These findings not only support the cross-cultural applicability of DIMI, but also demonstrate its relevance to children\u2019s AI-related competencies. The implications of this study were also discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence14080172","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T01:43:27Z","timestamp":1785721407000},"page":"172","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Unique Contribution of Digital Maturity in the AI Era: Psychometric Validation, Predictive Ability and Latent Profile Analysis Among Chinese Primary Students"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Meng","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Education for the Future, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4700-1927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiutong","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"883","DOI":"10.54183\/jssr.v3i2.326","article-title":"Addressing the digital divide: Access and use of technology in education","volume":"3","author":"Afzal","year":"2023","journal-title":"Journal of Social Sciences Review"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"326","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2009.01397.x","article-title":"From external regulation to self-regulation: Early parenting precursors of young children\u2019s executive functioning","volume":"81","author":"Bernier","year":"2010","journal-title":"Child Development"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1007\/s11251-017-9436-y","article-title":"Digital technologies for promoting \u201cstudent voice\u201d and co-creating learning experience in an academic course","volume":"46","author":"Blau","year":"2018","journal-title":"Instructional Science"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1177\/0963721414568662","article-title":"What accounts for personality maturation in early adulthood?","volume":"24","author":"Bleidorn","year":"2015","journal-title":"Current Directions in Psychological Science"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2056305119886031","DOI":"10.1177\/2056305119886031","article-title":"Digital overuse and subjective well-being in a digitized society","volume":"5","author":"Festic","year":"2019","journal-title":"Social Media + Society"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1007\/s10902-021-00421-1","article-title":"How communication technology fosters individual and social wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary support for a digital interaction model","volume":"23","author":"Canale","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Happiness Studies"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21582440241242188","DOI":"10.1177\/21582440241242188","article-title":"Development and validation of the artificial intelligence learning intention scale (AILIS) for university students","volume":"14","author":"Chai","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sage Open"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1186\/s40561-023-00269-3","article-title":"The AI generation gap: Are Gen Z students more interested in adopting generative AI such as ChatGPT in teaching and learning than their Gen X and millennial generation teachers?","volume":"10","author":"Chan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Smart Learning Environments"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100778","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbr.2025.100778","article-title":"Digital maturity of young people\u2013unfolding dependencies between core dimensions and national context as external factor by using a machine-learning approach","volume":"19","author":"Christensen","year":"2025","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior Reports"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1080\/09523987.2020.1833680","article-title":"Development of students\u2019 digital literacy skills through digital storytelling with mobile devices","volume":"57","author":"Churchill","year":"2020","journal-title":"Educational Media International"},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"CNNIC (2026, May 01). 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