The effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction among Chinese college students: a chain mediation of self-control and health-promoting lifestyle
- 1Hainan Police College , , ,
- 2Hainan Vocational College of Political Science and Law , , ,
Abstract
Objective: To explore the mechanism through which physical activity influences smartphone addiction tendency among Chinese college students, and to examine the chain mediating roles of self-control and health-promoting lifestyle.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 712 Chinese college students using the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Self-Control Scale, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and the Smartphone Addiction Tendency Scale. Structural equation modeling was employed for path analysis, and the bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effects.
Results: The structural equation model showed a good fit. The direct effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction tendency was significant (β = −0.249, 95% CI [−0.348, −0.147]), accounting for 61.03% of the total effect. The total indirect effect was also significant (β = −0.159, 95% CI [−0.217, −0.102]), accounting for 38.97% of the total effect. This indirect effect comprised three pathways: the separate mediation of self-control (β = −0.090, accounting for 22.06%), the separate mediation of health-promoting lifestyle (β = −0.033, accounting for 8.09%), and the chain mediation of self-control → health-promoting lifestyle (β = −0.036, accounting for 8.82%, 95% CI [−0.060, −0.014]). The model explained 30.3%, 33.3%, and 21.9% of the variance in self-control, health-promoting lifestyle, and smartphone addiction tendency, respectively.
Conclusion: Physical activity was significantly and negatively associated with smartphone addiction tendency among university students, with self-control and health-promoting lifestyle acting as sequential mediators. These findings suggest that interventions could integrate physical activity, self-control training, and health-promoting lifestyle education, with priority given to enhancing self-control to promote a health-promoting lifestyle, which may in turn be associated with lower smartphone addiction tendency. However, because of the cross-sectional design, causal relationships cannot be established; therefore, these intervention implications require validation in longitudinal or experimental studies.
Related
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- Questionable mediated effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction: A comment on Fu and Wang (2026)
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BibTeX
@article{fu2026effect,
title = {{The effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction among Chinese college students: a chain mediation of self-control and health-promoting lifestyle}},
author = {Hongsong Fu and Shirui Wang},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1990964},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724419},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction among Chinese college students: a chain mediation of self-control and health-promoting lifestyle
AU - Hongsong Fu
AU - Shirui Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1990964
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724419
AB - Objective: To explore the mechanism through which physical activity influences smartphone addiction tendency among Chinese college students, and to examine the chain mediating roles of self-control and health-promoting lifestyle. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 712 Chinese college students using the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Self-Control Scale, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile, and the Smartphone Addiction Tendency Scale. Structural equation modeling was employed for path analysis, and the bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effects. Results: The structural equation model showed a good fit. The direct effect of physical activity on smartphone addiction tendency was significant (β = −0.249, 95% CI [−0.348, −0.147]), accounting for 61.03% of the total effect. The total indirect effect was also significant (β = −0.159, 95% CI [−0.217, −0.102]), accounting for 38.97% of the total effect. This indirect effect comprised three pathways: the separate mediation of self-control (β = −0.090, accounting for 22.06%), the separate mediation of health-promoting lifestyle (β = −0.033, accounting for 8.09%), and the chain mediation of self-control → health-promoting lifestyle (β = −0.036, accounting for 8.82%, 95% CI [−0.060, −0.014]). The model explained 30.3%, 33.3%, and 21.9% of the variance in self-control, health-promoting lifestyle, and smartphone addiction tendency, respectively. Conclusion: Physical activity was significantly and negatively associated with smartphone addiction tendency among university students, with self-control and health-promoting lifestyle acting as sequential mediators. These findings suggest that interventions could integrate physical activity, self-control training, and health-promoting lifestyle education, with priority given to enhancing self-control to promote a health-promoting lifestyle, which may in turn be associated with lower smartphone addiction tendency. However, because of the cross-sectional design, causal relationships cannot be established; therefore, these intervention implications require validation in longitudinal or experimental studies.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -