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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1530740
This article is part of the Research Topic Online Assessment in Health and Sport Psychology View all 12 articles

The Effect of Physical Activities on Internet Addiction in College Students: the Mediating Effect of Self-Control

Provisionally accepted
Yan Sun Yan Sun 1*Yu Wang Yu Wang 2Hongjun Yu Hongjun Yu 3Jingmin Liu Jingmin Liu 3Xiaolu Feng Xiaolu Feng 4
  • 1 Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), Beijing, China
  • 2 University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 4 Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: To investigate the relationship between college students' physical activities and Internet addiction, to investigate the role self-control control plays in this relationship, and to provide a theoretical foundation for the alleviation of college students' tendency to Internet addiction and intervention treatment.Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 471 college students using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R), and the Self-Control Scale (SCS).Results: Internet addiction was significantly negatively correlated with physical activities (overall) (min/WK, r=-0.115, P<0.05), with high-intensity physical activities (min/WK,r = -0.179, P < 0.01), and with low-intensity physical activities (r=-0.103, P<0.05); self-control was significantly positively correlated with physical activities (overall) (min/WK,r = 0.150, P<0.01), with moderate -intensity physical activities (min/WK,r = 0.139, P＜ 0.01) while it was significantly negatively correlated with Internet addiction (min/WK,r=-0.349, P＜0.01). The mediating effect follows the path: physical activity → self-control → internet addiction.Physical activity can have a direct negative effect on college students' Internet addiction, and also influence Internet addiction through the mediating effect of self-control.

    Keywords: Internet addiction, Self-Control, physical activity, College student, exercise intensity, physical and mental health

    Received: 19 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Wang, Yu, Liu and Feng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yan Sun, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.