Physical Exercise and Mobile Social Media Dependence Among University Students: Exploratory Conditional-Process Patterns Involving Loneliness and Self-Control.
- 1School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China.
- 2School of Humanities, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330004, China.
Abstract
Physical exercise may be associated with less problematic digital use, but the evidence is heterogeneous, and the interpersonal and self-regulatory correlates of this association remain uncertain. We examined the observed-score relationships among exercise, loneliness, self-control, and mobile social media dependence in 205 non-physical-education undergraduates in Jiangxi, China. Item-level questionnaire data were rescored using published keys. Exercise was associated with lower dependence (r = -0.823), lower loneliness (r = -0.799), and higher self-control (r = 0.723; all p < 0.001). However, loneliness and dependence remained extremely highly correlated, and a targeted diagnostic CFA estimated a boundary-level latent correlation of approximately 0.999, indicating inadequate discriminant validity. An exploratory PROCESS-equivalent Model 15 showed significant exercise × self-control (B = 0.0133, p < 0.001) and loneliness × self-control (B = 1.0042, p < 0.001) interactions; the conditional product-of-coefficients index was -0.0177, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.0244, -0.0113]. HC3 and influential-case sensitivity analyses preserved the interaction pattern. The data therefore support a robust observed-score association between greater exercise and lower dependence, but they do not establish a distinct loneliness-mediated mechanism or causal ordering. These findings highlight the importance of integrating behavioral, interpersonal, and self-regulatory perspectives while prioritizing construct differentiation and measurement validity in research on university students' digital well-being.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026physical,
title = {{Physical Exercise and Mobile Social Media Dependence Among University Students: Exploratory Conditional-Process Patterns Involving Loneliness and Self-Control.}},
author = {Xiaojin Wang and Xiaoyu Wu and Jin Yang and Fenghua Zhang},
journal = {Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/bs16101908},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42938625},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Physical Exercise and Mobile Social Media Dependence Among University Students: Exploratory Conditional-Process Patterns Involving Loneliness and Self-Control.
AU - Xiaojin Wang
AU - Xiaoyu Wu
AU - Jin Yang
AU - Fenghua Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/bs16101908
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42938625
AB - Physical exercise may be associated with less problematic digital use, but the evidence is heterogeneous, and the interpersonal and self-regulatory correlates of this association remain uncertain. We examined the observed-score relationships among exercise, loneliness, self-control, and mobile social media dependence in 205 non-physical-education undergraduates in Jiangxi, China. Item-level questionnaire data were rescored using published keys. Exercise was associated with lower dependence (r = -0.823), lower loneliness (r = -0.799), and higher self-control (r = 0.723; all p < 0.001). However, loneliness and dependence remained extremely highly correlated, and a targeted diagnostic CFA estimated a boundary-level latent correlation of approximately 0.999, indicating inadequate discriminant validity. An exploratory PROCESS-equivalent Model 15 showed significant exercise × self-control (B = 0.0133, p < 0.001) and loneliness × self-control (B = 1.0042, p < 0.001) interactions; the conditional product-of-coefficients index was -0.0177, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.0244, -0.0113]. HC3 and influential-case sensitivity analyses preserved the interaction pattern. The data therefore support a robust observed-score association between greater exercise and lower dependence, but they do not establish a distinct loneliness-mediated mechanism or causal ordering. These findings highlight the importance of integrating behavioral, interpersonal, and self-regulatory perspectives while prioritizing construct differentiation and measurement validity in research on university students' digital well-being.
SN - 2076-328X
ER -