Artificial intelligence literacy, attitudes, and behaviors among nursing educators: A latent profile and mediation analysis.
BACKGROUND Nursing educators play a pivotal role in the effective integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into nursing education. Investigating the heterogeneity of their AI literacy and its impact on attitude and behavior is a prerequisite for developing targeted interventions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify latent profiles of AI literacy among nursing educators and to examine the mediating role of AI attitude in the relationship between literacy and behavior. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 339 nursing educators in China. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed in Mplus to identify distinct AI literacy subgroups. Mediation analyses were performed using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. RESULTS Three distinct AI literacy profiles were identified: foundational (12.4%), developing (47.5%), and proficient (40.1%). The variable-centered analysis revealed that AI attitude partially mediated the relationship between AI literacy and behavior. Person-centered analysis further indicated that this mediating effect was significant only for the proficient literacy profile, but not for the developing profile, highlighting subgroup-specific mechanisms in the literacy-behavior pathway. CONCLUSION The literacy-profile dependent mediation identified highlights differentiated literacy-attitude-behavior pathwaysand underscores the necessity of adopting tailored, profile-specific professional development strategies instead of one-size-fits-all approaches.