Physical Exercise and Psychological Distress: The Mediating Roles of Problematic Mobile Phone Use and Learning Burnout among Adolescents

Longitudinal Associations Between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Academic Achievement in Adolescents: A Mediated Moderation Model

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) was initially studied in the context of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but is now recognized as a distinct disorder. Despite the growing recognition of SCT, its impact on academic achievement among adolescents remains controversial, even when controlling for the level of ADHD. This may be due to the influence of other factors such as learning engagement and emotional distress. To address this gap, we conducted a longitudinal study with a sample of 782 Chinese senior high school students, measuring their SCT, learning engagement, and emotional distress at Grade 10 (Time1, T1) to predict their academic achievement evaluated based on final exams scores five months later (Time2, T2). Results showed that learning engagement mediated the negative relationship between SCT and later academic achievement. Additionally, individuals with high SCT showed less impact by emotional distress on learning engagement. These findings may shed light on the complex interplay between SCT, emotional distress and learning engagement in shaping academic achievement, underscoring the potential adaptive function of SCT as a coping strategy for managing emotional challenges.

Effects of physical activity on mobile phone addiction among university students: the mediating roles of self-control and resilience

Background

In recent years, mobile phone addiction (MPA) has emerged as a significant public health concern, particularly among university students. Physical activity (PA) is believed to exert a beneficial influence on MPA within this demographic. However, the extent to which this influence is moderated by other factors remains uncertain. Evidence points to self-control and resilience as potential mediators that may partially account for the positive impact of PA on MPA. Accordingly, this study seeks to investigate the effect of PA on MPA and the mediating role of self-control and resilience in this relationship through a chain-mediated model.

Methods

The study involved 413 Chinese university students (208 males, mean age 20.59 ± 1.17 years), who completed the PA Rating Scale (PARS-3), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), along with other psychosocial assessments. Pearson's correlation was employed to analyze the relationships between variables, while mediation models were examined using SPSS PROCESS and bootstrapped regression analysis.

Results

PA demonstrated a significant negative correlation with mobile phone addiction behaviors (β = -0.22, p < 0.01). Self-control and resilience moderated the relationship between PA and mobile phone addiction. Notably, PA influenced mobile phone addiction through the chain-mediated effects of self-control and resilience.

Conclusion

College students can alleviate MPA issues by consistently engaging in healthy PA, which is essential for enhancing self-control and bolstering resilience.

Physical activity and mental health: a systematic review and best-evidence synthesis of mediation and moderation studies

BACKGROUND

While evidence consistently demonstrates that physical activity is beneficial to mental health, it remains relatively unknown how physical activity benefits mental health, and which factors influence the effect of physical activity on mental health. This understanding could vastly increase our capacity to design, recommend, and prescribe physical activity in more optimal ways. The purpose of this study was to systematically review and synthesise evidence of all mediators and moderators of the relationship between physical activity and mental health.

METHODS

Systematic searches of four databases (i.e., Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus) identified 11,633 initial studies. Empirical studies that quantitatively assessed physical activity, or conducted a physical activity intervention, measured a mental health outcome, and tested one or more mediator or moderator of the relationship between physical activity and mental health were included. A total of 247 met the inclusion criteria; 173 studies examined mediation and 82 examined moderation.

RESULTS

Results of the best-evidence synthesis revealed strong evidence for 12 mediators including affect, mental health and wellbeing, self-esteem, self-efficacy, physical self-worth, body image satisfaction, resilience, social support, social connection, physical health, pain, and fatigue. Moderate evidence was identified for a further 15 mediators and eight moderators.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings should inform the design of future physical activity interventions to ensure optimal effects on mental health related outcomes. Additionally, if health professionals were to take these mediators and moderators into consideration when prescribing or recommending physical activity, physical activity would likely have a greater impact on population mental health.

Measuring the Quality of Life and Psychological Distress of Dormitory Students at a University in Sharjah

OBJECTIVE

Living in university dormitories can have a negative impact on students' psychological health and quality of life. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the frequency and risk factors of psychological distress and quality of life among university students living in dormitories at a university in Sharjah.

METHODS

A total of 336 participants between the ages of 18 and 24 years were recruited. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) scale and Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K10) were used to assess the quality of life (QoL) and psychological distress (PD), respectively. Data were analyzed via SPSS 25 (Chicago, IL: IBM Corp.) and p≤5% were reported as statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 43.45% (n=145) of participants lived in dormitories, while 56.55% (n=186) lived elsewhere. The mean QoL was higher (94.55) for non-dormitory students compared to dormitory students (88.97) (p<0.000, 95% CI = -8.591 to -2.577). Our results also show that the QoL is inversely proportional to PD (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study indicate that students living in dormitories are at higher risk of experiencing lower QoL compared to those living elsewhere, on top of the high rates of PD that they have to endure.

The relationship between physical activity and Internet addiction among adolescents in western China: a chain mediating model of anxiety and inhibitory control

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of anxiety and inhibitory control in the relationship between physical activity and Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents. A total of 951 adolescents from western China completed a self-report survey assessing physical activity, anxiety, inhibitory control, and IA. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis were conducted using SPSS software and the Process plug-in. Controlling for age, gender, and only child status, the findings revealed a negative association between physical activity and anxiety, inhibitory control, and IA. Moreover, anxiety were positively correlated with inhibitory control and IA. Additionally, anxiety exhibited a positive association with inhibitory control. Notably, physical activity directly and negatively predicted IA in adolescents, while also indirectly predicting it through anxiety and inhibitory control. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the complex effects of physical activity on IA among adolescents.

Unified and distinct cognitive control deficits in adolescents with cognitive disengagement syndrome and learning burnout

Introduction

Cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) is a psychological disorder characterized by daydreaming, mental fogginess, and slow thinking, while learning burnout (LB) is characterized by a passive and inattentive attitude toward learning. These two disorders are closely related but can be challenging to differentiate from one another. The present study aimed to identify shared and distinct cognitive control deficits between CDS and LB.

Methods

We recruited 136 adolescents (aged 14 to 17 years) from an initial screening of CDS and LB (N = 476) and divided them into four groups: CDS, LB, CDS + LB, and typically developing control. After a second screening, 129 adolescents completed two tasks to assess their attentional networks and cognitive control capacity (CCC).

Results

Adolescents with high CDS symptoms (both CDS group and CDS+LB group) exhibited impaired disengaging effect of attention and lower CCC, indicating deficits in orienting attention and the upper limit of information processing for cognitive control specifically. Furthermore, support vector machine modeling identified CCC as the most significant parameter differentiating the CDS and LB groups.

Discussion

Our findings suggest that while adolescents with high CDS and high LB symptoms have similar outward manifestations in the adolescent's school life, deficits in attention and cognitive control, particularly in the CCC, may distinguish between the two groups.

The association between problematic internet use and burnout: A three-level meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Burnout has received considerable attention in recent years because of the adverse consequences for people. Theoretical perspectives propose that problematic internet use is a significant potential risk for burnout. Despite a plethora of studies showing a positive association between problematic internet use and burnout, there remains a contentious debate regarding the extent and direction of this association.

METHODS

This study aims to perform a three-level meta-analysis to evaluate the strength of the relationship between problematic internet use and burnout through a quantitative synthesis of eligible studies published until April 2023.

RESULTS

A total of 42 studies with 54,121 participants and 103 effect sizes were identified. The results indicated a positive, moderate, and significant association between problematic internet use and burnout. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis found that this association was moderated by population, dimension of burnout, and the measure of burnout, however, some study features (i.e., region, type of problematic internet use, gender, and publication year) could not explain the heterogeneity across individual studies.

LIMITATIONS

Studies included in the current meta-analysis mainly used cross-sectional designs, which limited the potential to make inferences on the causal relationship between problematic internet use and burnout.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with problematic internet use have exhibited higher levels of burnout. Overall, these findings develop a deeper understanding of this association between problematic internet use and burnout and have implications for the direction of future research and interventions.

Leisure experience and mobile phone addiction: Evidence from Chinese adolescents

Background

During the Covid-19 pandemic, online learning became the mainstream because of many restrictions on interpersonal relationships. Children spent more and more time using mobile phones, which also aroused public concern.In past research on the prevention of problematic mobile phone use, it was easy to neglect meaningful part of leisure. Hence, based on Davis's cognitive-behavioral model, this study was designed to verify how leisure experience influences mobile phone addiction through maladaptive cognition, which received little attention before.

Methods

By convenient sampling method, it involved a sample of 1007 middle school students recruited from Northern China. We used adolescent leisure experience questionnaire, maladaptive cognition scale and mobile phone addiction scale to measure adolescents' leisure experience, maladaptive cognition and mobile phone addiction respectively.

Results

The findings revealed that leisure experience was negatively correlated with maladaptive cognition (r = -0.21, p < 0.01) and mobile phone addiction (r = -0.20, p < 0.01) respectively. Maladaptive cognition was positively correlated with mobile phone addiction (r = 0.51, p < 0.01). Given gender, age and family economic conditions, the negative predictive effect of leisure experience on mobile phone addiction was significant (β = -0.18，p < 0.001). Besides, the process by which leisure experience predicted mobile phone addiction through maladaptive cognition was significant, indirect effect = -0.10, SE = 0.02, 95 % CI = [-0.13, -0.07].

Conclusions

Adolescents' great leisure experience has a positive impact on mobile phone addiction, which can be achieved by reducing maladaptive cognition. Therefore，it is significant to improve their leisure experience and guide them to perceive their irrational beliefs in leisure and rethink offline leisure and real life from more positive views.

How physical exercise influences academic burnout among Chinese "Double Non" college students: the chain mediation role of mobile phone addiction and learning engagement

Background

With mental anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend of "lying down" has become increasingly prevalent among Chinese college students such as not thinking ahead, decadent abandonment, and being weak daily. Particularly, Chinese "Double Non" college students are more likely to face academic burnout (AB) due to lower school satisfaction and after-degree employment ratio, in comparison to "Double First-Class" college students.

Objectives

In view of this, the present study examined the structural relationships of physical exercise (PE), mobile phone addiction (MPA), learning engagement (LE), and AB among Chinese "Double Non" college students, aiming at exploring corresponding mechanism to provide supportive guidance for alleviating potential AB.

Methods

This study adopted a cross-sectional survey approach among the sample of "Double Non" college students in China. We recruited 930 participants (272 men and 658 women) in the second half of the 2022-2023 academic year, all of whom completed questionnaires involving Physical Exercise Rating Scale, Mobile Phone Dependence Index Scale, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student, and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey. A series of statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and direct and indirect effects among study variables, were proceeded based on the collected data.

Results

The results showed that PE can not only directly and negatively influence AB, but also indirectly and negatively influence AB through the mediation of MPA as well as the chain mediation of both MPA and LE. While PE had no significantly indirect effect on AB via LE.

Discussion

Physical exercise was proved to be an effective way to reduce MPA and then enhance LE, consequently leading to decreased AB in Chinese "Double Non" college students. The findings were discussed in light of related research, and implications and future directions were put forward for application in potential theoretical research and educational practice.

Exercise intervention to reduce mobile phone addiction in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

The growing problem of adolescent mobile phone addiction has attracted significant attention, underscoring the importance of identifying approaches to address it. Exercise has been found to reduce adolescent mobile phone addiction; however, its mechanism remains unclear. This review aims to elucidate the potential moderating factors between exercise and mobile phone addiction based on previous studies to provide a reference for adolescents to effectively participate in exercise to reduce mobile phone addiction.

METHODS

Articles were searched in the CNKI, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases according to the inclusion criteria and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Assessment and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). The quality of the literature was assessed by two independent reviewers using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool for methodological quality assessment. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.1 software for Meta-analysis, standardized mean difference (SMD) was combined using a random effects model, and subgroup analysis was used to explore heterogeneity.

RESULTS

A total of 12 studies, 17 samples, and 861 subjects were included in the meta-analysis, and all studies were randomized controlled trials. The findings revealed that the exercise intervention significantly reduced mobile phone addiction in adolescents (SMD = -3.11; 95% CI: -3.91, -2.30; p < 0.001). The intervention effect was moderated by multiple variables, such as the measurement tools, exercise intervention types, cycles, frequency, and duration of a single exercise intervention.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that exercise could serve as an effective strategy for preventing or ameliorating mobile phone addiction in adolescents. Based on the results of this study, we encourage mobile phone-addicted adolescents to engage in a single exercise using a mix of skills for 30-60 min three or more times weekly for more than eight consecutive weeks.

The role of loneliness and learning burnout in the regulation of physical exercise on internet addiction in Chinese college students

OBJECTIVE

To explore the mediating effects of physical exercise on internet addiction in Chinese college students and to reveal the mediating effects of loneliness and learning burnout on physical exercise and internet addiction.

METHODS

1238 Chinese college students were investigated by physical exercise scale, loneliness scale, learning burnout scale, and internet addiction scale. The SPSS 27.0 was used to conduct a correlation analysis of the data and AMOS21.0 was used to establish a structural equation model to investigate the mediation effect.

RESULTS

Physical exercise could directly negatively predict the internet addiction of college students. Loneliness and learning burnout partially mediate the relationship between physical exercise and internet addiction, and the mediating pathways included "physical exercise-loneliness-internet addiction", "physical exercise-learning burnout-internet addiction", and "physical exercise-loneliness-learning burnout-internet addiction", accounting for 9.38%, 15.63% and 21.88% of the total effect, respectively. In the chain mediation effect, it was mainly the loneliness and sub-dimensions of learning burnout (low mood, misbehavior) that were at play.

CONCLUSION

Physical exercise not only directly affects internet addiction of college students but also indirectly affects internet addiction through the independent mediating effect of loneliness and learning burnout and the chain mediating effect of "loneliness-learning burnout".

Physical activity, problematic smartphone use, and burnout among Chinese college students

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity (PA), problematic smartphone use (PSU), and burnout, as well as to identify whether there is a mediating role for PSU. We recruited 823 college students (Mage = 18.55, SD = 0.83) from Wuhan, China, in December 2022, including 499 males and 324 females. Demographic information, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) were used for assessments. Pearson correlation analysis showed that PA was significantly associated with PSU (r = -0.151, p < 0.001), PSU was significantly associated with burnout (r = 0.421, p < 0.001), and the association between PA and burnout was not statistically significant (r = -0.046, p > 0.05). The results of the mediation model test showed that PA could not predict burnout directly; it instead predicted burnout entirely indirectly through PSU. Furthermore, PSU mediated the predictive effect of PA on exhaustion and cynicism. In conclusion, there is no direct connection between PA levels and burnout. PA indirectly affects burnout through PSU, but does not fully apply to the three different dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy.

The effect of smartphone dependence on learning burnout among undergraduates: the mediating effect of academic adaptability and the moderating effect of self-efficacy

Introduction

Smartphone dependence is closely related to the physical and mental health development of undergraduates and their learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between smartphone dependence, academic adaptability, self-efficacy and learning burnout among undergraduates and its underlying mechanisms.

Methods

The study was conducted on 2,110 undergraduates using the Smartphone Dependence Scale, the Undergraduates Learning Adjustment Scale, the Learning Burnout Undergraduates Scale and the Self-Efficacy Scale to develop a mediation model and a moderation model.

Results

The findings of this study revealed that (1) smartphone dependence significantly negatively predicted academic adaptability; (2) academic adaptability significantly negatively predicted learning burnout; (3) smartphone dependence significantly positively predicted learning burnout; (4) academic adaptability partially mediated the effect of smartphone dependence on learning burnout; (5) self-efficacy played a moderating role in the effect of academic adaptability on learning burnout.

Conclusion

These findings can help researchers and educators better understand the underlying mechanisms between smartphone dependence and learning burnout in undergraduates.

Effects of sports on school adaptability, resilience and cell phone addiction tendency of high school students

BACKGROUND

Sport help promote healthy physical and mental development of high school students. To date, there have been few studies on the effect of sport on school adaptability, resilience and cell phone addiction tendency of high school students.

AIM

To explore the effects of sports on school adaptability, resilience and cell phone addiction of high school students.

METHODS

A stratified random sampling method was used to select 600 students from two high schools in Lhasa, and Physical Activity Rating Scale, School Adjustment Scale for High School Students, Chinese Adolescents Resilience Scale, and Mobile Phone Addiction Index were used for field questionnaire survey.

RESULTS

Sport was positively correlated with school adaptability and resilience (P < 0.01), school adaptability was positively correlated with resilience (P < 0.01) and cell phone addiction was negatively correlated with sports, school adaptability and resilience (P < 0.01). The direct effect of sport on cell phone addiction was significant (P < 0.001), accounting for 20.51% of the total effect. The mediating effect of school adaptability on sport and cell phone addiction was significant (P < 0.001), accounting for 17.38% and 35.36% of the total effect value, respectively. School adjustment and resilience had a significant chain-mediated effect on sport and cell phone addiction (P < 0.001), accounting for 26.75% of the total effect.

CONCLUSION

Sport affected the cell phone addiction tendency of senior high school students through the mediating effect of school adaptability and resilience, and through the chain mediation effect of both.

The more academic burnout students got, the more problematic mobile phone use they suffered? A meta-analysis of mainland Chinese adolescents and young adults

Introduction

In recent years, the relationship between academic burnout (AB) and problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has become the hot issue of scholars, and a lot of related research has been carried out, but the results are different. Most studies showed that there was a significant positive correlation between AB and PMPU. However, some studies showed that the relationship between AB and PMPU was not significant. While this study aimed at exploring the relationship between AB and PMPU, as well as the influence of some moderating factors (region, age, gender, publication year, the measurement instrument) on them.

Methods

According to the searching process for studies of PRISMA, we searched the related studies on AB and PMPU in Mainland China from January 2012 to November 2022 from CNKI, Wanfang Data, Chongqing VIP Information Co., Ltd. (VIP), Baidu scholar, ProQuest dissertations, Taylor & Francis, Springer, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO and PsyclNFO. Eventually, 50 studies were included in the meta-analysis, involving 38,488 subjects, with the sample size ranging from 193 to 2,260. CMA 3.0 was used to analyze the overall effect and test the moderating effect.

Results

The result shows that the relationship between AB and PMPU can be considered as a moderate correlation (r = 0.414, 95%CI [0.384, 0.443]), and moderator analysis shows that the relationship between AB and PMPU was moderated by the measurement instrument and publication year.

Discussion

Specifically, when the Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale and the Smartphone Addiction Scale for College Students were used as PMPU measurement tools, the correlation coefficients between AB and PMPU were higher. When the publication year was used as a moderating variable, the relationship between AB and PMPU increased over the years. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022347277, identifier PROSPERO CRD42022347277.

The influence of different physical exercise amounts on learning burnout in adolescents: The mediating effect of self-efficacy

Objective

To explore the effect of physical exercise on learning burnout in adolescents, and to reveal the mediating effect of self-efficacy between different physical exercise amounts and learning burnout.

Methods

A total of 610 adolescents from 5 primary and middle schools in Chongqing, China were investigated with the Physical Exercise Rating Scale (PARS-3), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Learning Burnout Scale (LBS). The SPSS21.0 and AMOS21.0 statistical software were used to process and analyze the data.

Results

(1) The physical exercise amount in boys was significantly higher than that in girls, but there was no significant gender difference in self-efficacy and learning burnout. Meanwhile, the academic alienation and low sense of achievement of primary school students were significantly lower than that of junior high school students, and there was no significant difference in the physical exercise amount and self-efficacy. (2) The physical exercise amount in adolescents was positively correlated with self-efficacy (r = 0.41), negatively correlated with learning burnout (r = -0.46), and self-efficacy was negatively correlated with learning burnout (r = -0.45). (3) The physical exercise amount could directly and negatively predict the learning burnout of adolescents (β = -0.40), and self-efficacy played a partial mediating effect between the amount of physical exercise and learning burnout (ES = -0.19). (4) Self-efficacy had no significant mediating effect between low exercise amount and learning burnout, but had a significant partial mediating effect between moderate (ES = -0.15) and high exercise amount (ES = -0.22) and learning burnout, and the partial mediating effect between high exercise amount and learning burnout was the highest.

Conclusion

Physical exercise was an effective way to prevent or reduce learning burnout in adolescents. It can not only directly affect learning burnout, but also indirectly affect learning burnout through the mediating effect of self-efficacy. It should be pointed out that maintaining a sufficient amount of physical exercise is crucial to improving self-efficacy and reducing learning burnout.

The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Mobile Phone Addiction Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported a potential negative correlation between physical activity (PA) and mobile phone addiction (MPA) among adolescents and young adults. To date, the strength of this correlation has not been well characterized.

OBJECTIVE

This review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize available empirical studies to examine the correlations between PA and MPA among adolescents and young adults. We also explored several potential moderators, including time of data collection, country or region, and type of population, associated with the relationship between PA and MPA.

METHODS

Four electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Web of Science) were searched from database inception to March 2022 to identify relevant studies. The pooled Pearson correlation coefficients and their corresponding 95% CIs for the relationship between PA and MPA were calculated using the inverse variance method. The methodological quality of the included cross-sectional studies was determined based on the Joanna Briggs Institute appraisal checklist. The study conformed to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses) guidelines.

RESULTS

In total, 892 relevant articles were identified, of which 22 were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final meta-analysis included 17 of the 22 studies. Results of random effects modeling revealed a moderate correlation between PA and MPA among adolescents and young adults (summary r=-0.243, P<.001). Sensitivity and publication bias analyses further demonstrated the robustness of our results. All the included studies were scored as high quality with a low risk of bias. Subgroup analysis further indicated that none of the hypothesized moderators (time of data collection, country or region, and type of population) significantly affected the relationship between PA and MPA, as confirmed by the mixed effects analysis. In addition, in the data collection subgroups, medium effect sizes were obtained for data collected before COVID-19 (r=-0.333, P<.001) and data collected during COVID-19 (r=-0.207, P<.001). In subgroup analyses for country or region, the correlation coefficient for China and other developing regions showed a similarly moderate effect size (r=-0.201, P<.001 and r= -0.217, P<.001, respectively). However, the effect sizes for developed regions were not significant (r=-0.446, P=.39). In a subgroup analysis based on the type of population, we found that the effect size for young adults was moderate (r=-0.250, P<.001). However, that of adolescents was not significant (r=-0.129, P=.24).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate a moderately negative relationship between PA and MPA among young adults. The strength of this relationship was not influenced by the time of data collection, country or region, or type of population.

Effects of Physical Exercise on Mobile Phone Addiction in College Students: The Chain Mediation Effect of Psychological Resilience and Perceived Stress

Smartphones have become an integral part of people's daily lives. While bringing convenience, mobile phone addiction caused by overuse of smart phones has become a common phenomenon among college students. The current study aimed to examine the serial mediating role of psychological resilience and perceived stress between physical exercise and mobile phone addiction of college students. Using the PARS-3 scale, CD-RISC-10 scale, PSS-10 scale, and MPA scale, 257 college students were investigated and Structural Equation Model (SEM) was conducted. The results show that: (1) Physical exercise has no significant direct impact on mobile phone addiction. (2) Psychological resilience has a significant mediating effect between physical exercise and mobile phone addiction. But perceived stress does not. (3) Psychological resilience and perceived stress play a chain mediation role. Physical exercise can enhance psychological resilience firstly, thus relieving perceived stress and eventually mitigating mobile phone addiction.

The relationship between physical exercise and mobile phone addiction among Chinese college students: Testing mediation and moderation effects

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, suspensions of activities and long periods of self-isolation led to a sharp increase in excessive use of mobile phones, which sparked public concern about mobile phone addiction (MPA). In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to physical exercise as a protective effect of MPA. However, more studies are needed to reveal this relationship and the exact mechanisms, based on which this study tested the mediating and moderating roles of self-control, rumination, psychological distress, and loneliness between physical exercise and MPA.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, primary data was collected by questionnaire from 1,843 college students (19.75 ± 1.3) from five universities in Sichuan Province in Mainland China. Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale (MPATS), Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), Self-Control Scale (SCS), Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-20) were investigated. The mediating models were examined using SPSS PROCESS macro 3.3 software, in which the mediation variables were self-control, rumination, and psychological distress, and the moderation was loneliness. Gender, major, and grade were included as control variables.

Result

Self-control, rumination, and psychological distress played a simple mediating role between physical exercise and MPA. Moreover, not only self-control and rumination but also self-control and psychological distress played the chain mediating roles between physical exercise and MPA. The chain pathways were moderated by loneliness. Specifically, the effect was more substantial among college students with higher loneliness.

Conclusion

The conclusions corroborate and clarify that self-control, rumination, and psychological distress mediated the association between physical exercise and MPA, and the mediation effects were moderated via loneliness. This present study advanced our understanding of how and when college students’ physical exercise was related to MPA. It also illustrates that educators and parents should pay more attention to college students’ physical exercise.

The Relationship between Physical Activity and College Students’ Mobile Phone Addiction: The Chain-Based Mediating Role of Psychological Capital and Social Adaptation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of physical activity on mobile phone addiction among college students. A total of 9406 students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, from 35 colleges in four regions of Jiangsu Province were selected using the whole group sampling method. Questionnaires, particularly the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Long Form (IPAQ), the positive psychological capital scale (PPQ), the social adjustment diagnostic questionnaire (SAFS), and the mobile phone addiction index scale (MPAI), were administered. We found that physical activity negatively predicted mobile phone addiction among university students. Social adaptation partially mediates between physical activity and mobile phone addiction among university students, with separate mediation of psychological capital playing no indirect role. Psychological capital and social adjustment mediate the chain between physical activity and mobile phone dependence among college students. Our findings suggest that physical activity is an important external factor influencing college students’ mobile phone dependence, and it indirectly affects university students’ mobile phone addiction through psychological capital and social adaptation. Improving the physical activity level of college students, enhancing their psychological capital, and promoting improved social adaptation are important ways to prevent mobile phone addiction among college students.

The Influence of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Craving Degree for University Students with Mobile Phone Dependency: A Randomized Controlled Trial

These days, mobile phone dependency (MPD) has become one of the most imperative and impressive puzzles in the area of behavioral addictions and public health across the world, especially the individuals with MPD that might frequently crave using mobile phones themselves. The target of the current study was to determine whether moderate-intensity aerobic exercise could reduce the craving degree for mobile phones for university students with MPD by a randomized, controlled trial. Sixty Chinese undergraduates, including 30 male and 30 female students aged from 18 to 22 years (20.08 ± 1.94 years) with MPD were recruited and then randomly assigned to the exercise group (n = 30) or the control group (n = 30) with even numbers by gender and major. Participants in the exercise group were required to perform an acute moderate-intensity treadmill exercise lasting for 30 min at 45−68% heart rate reserve (HRR) with background music, while the control group were only asked to listen to the same music for 40 min without any exercise. Sport watches were employed to monitor their heart rate (HR), and the exercise group was also obliged to report their rating of perceived exertion (RPE). After completing the experimental task, a visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate their craving degree for mobile phones, and an independent samples t-test was computed to reveal the difference in the scores of craving degree for mobile phones between the two groups. The results showed that the VAS score for the exercise group (3.77 ± 1.36) was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than that of the control group (6.11 ± 1.39). The findings suggested that acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise could be an effective and reliable means to help deal with the issue of mobile phones craving for the undergraduates with MPD, and more longitudinal intervention studies and control trial designs should be conducted in the near future to further test the long-term effects of this exercise.

The Influence of Family Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents’ Mental Health in China

Adolescent mental health is an important public health issue that cannot be ignored, and mental health issues are a major cause of physical illness in adolescents and children worldwide. In order to supplement relevant research and provide insightful policy suggestions to government, schools and families, this study investigated the nexus between family socioeconomic status and mental health for adolescents in China. Based on 7234 observations from the China Education Panel Survey, the paper estimated the effects of family socioeconomic status on adolescents’ mental health using ordinary least squares. The effects of family income, parental education level, and parental occupation on adolescent mental health were estimated separately by the same method. Our findings suggest that family socioeconomic status has a significant positive effect on mental health of adolescents in China. This effect is heterogeneous depending on individuals’ registered residence types and their participation in health courses. Finally, frequency of parent-child interaction and classmate interaction are shown to be potential mechanisms for the effect of family socioeconomic status on the mental health of Chinese adolescents.