Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Impact of Physical Activity on College Students’ Mobile Phone Dependence: the Mediating Role of Self-Control

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The mobile phone dependence of college students has gradually become a common and serious problem in society. Physical activity constitutes an important intervention to ameliorate this phenomenon. Previous studies have found that self-control can effectively reduce dependence on mobile phones. Therefore, it is necessary to consider whether physical activity can improve self-control and reduce college students’ mobile phone dependence. In total, 418 college students were selected by means of convenience sampling. The Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), the College Student Phone Dependency Questionnaire, and the College Student Self-Control Scale (SCS) were distributed electronically. The results show that 1) physical activity has a negative effect on college students’ mobile phone dependence, 2) physical activity plays a positive role in the self-control of college students and 3) self-control plays a mediating role in the effect of physical activity on mobile phone dependence. Physical activity is an effective intervention for decreasing an individual’s mobile phone dependence, and self-control acts as a mediator to reduce mobile phone use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252–1265.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Yielding to temptation: Self-control failure, impulsive purchasing, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(4), 670–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Gailliot, M., Dewall, C. N., & Oaten, M. (2006). Self-regulation and personality: How interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior. Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1773–1802.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Tice, V. D. M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(6), 351–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2016). Misguided effort with elusive implications. Perspectives on Psychological Science, A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 11(4), 574.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berkman, E. T., Graham, A. M., & Fisher, P. A. (2012). Training self-control: a domain-general translational neuroscience approach. Child Development Perspectives, 6(4), 374–384.

  • Bianchi, A., & Phillips, J. G. (2005). Psychological predictors of problem mobile phone use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8(1), 39–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billieux, J. (2012). Problematic use of the mobile phone: A literature review and a pathways model. Current Psychiatry Reviews, 8, 299–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Kim, J. S., Voss, M. W., Vanpatter, M., Pontifex, M. B., Raine, L. B., Konkel, A., Hillman, C. H., Cohen, N. J., & Kramer, A. F. (2010). A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal amount, and memory performance in preadolescent children. Brain Research, 1358, 172–183.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Demirci, K., Akgönül, M., & Akpinar, A. (2015). Relationship of smartphone use severity with sleep quality, depression, and anxiety in university students. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 4(2), 85–92.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • De Ridder, D. T., Lensveltmulders, G., Finkenauer, C., Stok, F. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2012). Taking stock of self-control: A meta-analysis of how trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality & Social Psychology Review an Official Journal of the Society for Personality & Social Psychology Inc, 16(1), 76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Englert, C., & Rummel, J. (2016). I want to keep on exercising but I don’t: The negative impact of momentary lacks of self-control on exercise adherence. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 26, 24–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finne, E., Englert, C., & Jekauc, D. (2019). On the importance of self-control strength for regular physical activity. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 165–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galla, B. M., & Duckworth, A. L. (2015). More than resisting temptation: Beneficial habits mediate the relationship between self-control and positive life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), 508–525.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, J., Sun, J., & Xiao, K. (2012). Influence of sport interference on university students’ network addiction. Journal of Shenyang Sport University, 31(4), 55–59.

  • Gerdtham, U. G., Wengström, E., & Östervall, L. W. (2019). Trait self-control, exercise and exercise ambition: Evidence from a healthy, adult population. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 4, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagger, M. S. (2013). The multiple pathways by which self-control predicts behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 849.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F., & Scharkow, M. (2013). The relative trustworthiness of inferential tests of the indirect effect in statistical mediation analysis: Does method really matter? Psychological Science, 24(10), 1918–1927.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iacobucci, D. (2008). Mediation analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Z., & Zhao, X. (2016). Self-control and problematic mobile phone use in chinese college students: The mediating role of mobile phone use patterns. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1).

  • Jun, H. J., & Park, S. (2019). The effect of cross-level interaction between community factors and social capital among individuals on physical activity: Considering gender difference. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3), 495.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kamijo, K., Nishihira, Y., Higashiura, T., & Kuroiwa, K. (2007). The interactive effect of exercise intensity and task difficulty on human cognitive processing. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 65(2), 114–121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnunen, M. I., Suihko, J., Hankonen, N., Absetz, P., & Jallinoja, P. (2012). Self-control is associated with physical activity and fitness among young males. Behavioral Medicine, 38(3), 83–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Khang, H., Woo, H. J., & Kim, J. K. (2012). Self as an antecedent of mobile phone addiction. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 10(1), 65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lepp, A., Barkley, J. E., & Karpinski, A. C. (2014). The relationship between cell phone use, academic performance, anxiety, and satisfaction with life in college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 343–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z. B., Liang, Y., & Wang, T. T. (2017). The impact of college students' mobile phone dependence and self-control on procrastination. Psychological Research, 10(2), 90–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang, D. Q. (1994). The stress level of college students and its relationship with physical activity. Chinese Journal of Mental Health, 1, 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mei, S. L., Chai, J. X., Wang, S. B., Ng, C. H., Ungvari, G. S., & Xiang, Y. T. (2018). Mobile phone dependence, social support and impulsivity in chinese university students. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 15(3), 504–510.

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. Telephone users in July 2019 by province. http://www.miit.gov.cn/n1146312/n1146904/n1648372/c7277606/content.html, 2019-9-12.

  • Muraven, M. (2010). Building self-control strength: Practicing self-control leads to improved self-control performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 0–468.

  • Pituch, K. A., Whittaker, T. A., & Stapleton, L. M. (2005). A comparison of methods to test for mediation in multisite experiments. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 40(1), 1–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Puetz, T. W., O’Connor, P. J., & Dishman, R. K. (2006). Effects of chronic exercise on feelings of energy and fatigue: A quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin., 132(6), 866–876.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Qing Z. H., Cao J.P., Wu C.H., & Liu X.Q. (2019). Investigation on the status quo and influencing factors of college students' mobile phone addiction from the perspective of ecology. Modern Preventive Medicine (5), 865–869+874.

  • Roberts, J. A., & Pirog, S. F. (2013). A preliminary investigation of materialism and impulsiveness as predictors of technological addictions among young adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(1), 56–62.

  • Sahin, S., Ozdemir, K., Unsal, A., & Temiz, N. (2013). Evaluation of mobile phone addiction level and sleep quality in university students. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 29, 913–918.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sara, A. (2011). Mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression among young adults – a prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health, 11(66), 2–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schöndube, A., Bertrams, A., Sudeck, G., & Fuchs, R. (2017). Self-control strength and physical activity: An ecological momentary assessment study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 29, 19–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, S. H., & Guo, Y. Y. (2008). Revision of the university self-control scale. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 16(5), 468–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271–324.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomée, S., Härenstam, A., & Hagberg, M. (2011). Mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression among young adults – a prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health, 11, 185–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, S. P., White, K. M., Cox, S., & Young, R. M. (2011). Keeping in constant touch: The predictors of young Australians’ mobile phone involvement. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 333–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Z. X. (2013). Research on the relationship between college students' mobile phone dependence and impulsiveness. (Doctoral dissertation, Suzhou University).

  • Warburton, D. E. R., & Bredin, S. S. D. (2017). Health benefits of physical activity: A systematic review of current systematic reviews. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 32(5), 541–556.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, M. L. (2010). Structural equation model – the operation and application of AMOS. CQ: Chongqing University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Z., Asbury, K., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). An exploration of problematic smartphone use among Chinese University students: Associations with academic anxiety, academic procrastination, self-regulation and subjective wellbeing. International Journal of Meantal Health and Addiction, 7, 596–614.

  • Yen, C. F., Tang, T. C., Yen, J. Y., Lin, H. C., Huang, C. F., Liu, S. C., & Ko, C. H. (2009). Symptoms of problematic cellular phone use, functional impairment and its association with depression among adolescents in southern Taiwan. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 863–873.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., & Zhang, L. W. (2017). Progress in the classification of athletes' self-control training. Chinese Journal of Sports Medicine, 10, 72–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering baron and kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zong, H. L. (2019). Research on the relationship between college students' sports spiritual culture needs and exercise behavior. Zhejiang Sports Science, 41(5), 98–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou, Z., Liu, Y., Xie, J., & Huang, X. (2016). Aerobic exercise as a potential way to improve self-control after ego-depletion in healthy female college students. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 501–509.

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2019PT016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China

    Weitan Zhong, Yaxin Wang & Guoli Zhang

Authors
  1. Weitan Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yaxin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Guoli Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors designed the study. Wang Yaxin conducted data collection. Zhong Weitan performed data analysis and carried out the bulk of the literature review and manuscript writing. Zhang Guoli participated in checking methods, results and guiding Zhong Weitan during the data analysis. Zhang Guoli played an editorial role when it came to writing up the research study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guoli Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics

This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology at the Beijing Sport University. All participants agreed to give their information for scientific research and to provide anonymous responses. The research met the required ethical standards and was approved by the research team’s university ethics committee.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhong, W., Wang, Y. & Zhang, G. The Impact of Physical Activity on College Students’ Mobile Phone Dependence: the Mediating Role of Self-Control. Int J Ment Health Addiction 19, 2144–2159 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00308-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00308-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation