The mediating effect of subject well-being between physical activity and the internet addiction of college students in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

• Published in: Frontiers in public health 2024, Vol.12, p.1368199-1368199
• Main Authors: Wang, Jinfu, Xu, Xue, Wu, Qinmei, Zhou, Chao, Yang, Guan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Behavior, Addictive - psychology; China - epidemiology; college students; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise - psychology; Female; Humans; internet addiction; Internet Addiction Disorder - epidemiology; Internet Addiction Disorder - psychology; Male; mediating effect; physical activity; Sex Factors; Students - psychology; Students - statistics & numerical data; subjective well-being; Surveys and Questionnaires; the COVID-19 pandemic; Universities; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2296-2565; 2296-2565
• DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1368199

Internet addiction poses a significant threat to the health of college students worldwide, but physical activity, as a highly safe and effective rehabilitative measure, has shown promise for alleviating this issue nowadays. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mediating processes in this association remained unclear. This study aims to explore the impact of physical activity on internet addiction among college students and the mediating role of subjective well-being. A survey was conducted on 216 eligible college students using the physical activity level scale, the internet addiction test, and the subjective well-being scale. For data analysis, independent sample t-tests, correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and mediating effect tests were in turn carried out in this work. The study revealed noteworthy gender disparities in physical activity and internet addiction among college students (  = -0.356,