A cross-group comparison study of the influences of basic psychological need satisfactions on digital literacy: The chain mediating role of academic motivation and learning engagement

Digital literacy is an essential skill for 21st-century citizens. School education plays an important role in its development. However, various psychological and behavioral factors influence this process. The purpose of this study is to explore how basic physiological need satisfactions affect students’ academic motivation, learning engagement, and ultimately, digital literacy development. Three hundred and ninety-three university students and 280 middle school students in Northwest China participated in this research. Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed: (1) competence positively and significantly predicted digital literacy development in both university and middle school students, while relatedness had a strong impact on middle school students but not on university students; (2) learning engagement fully mediated the effect of competence on digital literacy development in university students, and the effect of relatedness on digital literacy development in middle school students; (3) intrinsic motivation and learning engagement exhibited a chain mediating effect between relatedness and digital literacy development in university students, and the effect between competence and digital literacy development in middle school students. This study’s findings provide valuable insights for developing effective instructional strategies to enhance students’ digital literacy. Implications for education and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.