Physical Activity and Mobile Phone Addiction Among Chinese College Students: A Chain Mediation Model of Social Anxiety and Loneliness

Xueqiang Zhu ¹ Haitao Niu ² Qingying Zhu ² Wenjia Chen ^3*

• ¹ School of Competitive Sport, Shandong Sport University, jinan, China
• ² School of Physical Education, Shandong University, Jinan, China
• ³ School of Physical Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China

Mobile phone addiction is increasingly prevalent among college students and can lead to various physical, psychological, and social problems. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and mobile phone addiction among Chinese college students and to examine the potential chain mediating effects of social anxiety and loneliness in this relationship. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 268 Chinese college students (62.7% male, mean age = 20.36 years, SD = 1.73) who completed standardized measures including the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3, Social Phobia Inventory, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlations and PROCESS macro for mediation analyses with bootstrapping. Results showed that physical activity had a significant negative effect on mobile phone addiction (β = -0.11, p < 0.05) with a total effect of β = -0.28 (p < 0.001). Social anxiety (β = -0.12, 95% CI [-0.18, -0.06]) and loneliness (β = -0.03, 95% CI [-0.06, -0.01]) independently mediated this relationship, while a significant chain mediation through both variables was also found ( β = -0.02, 95% CI [-0.03, -0.01]), with all indirect effects accounting for 59.68% of the total effect. These findings extend previous research by identifying the psychological mechanisms through which physical activity protects against mobile phone addiction, providing new theoretical insights into the sequential pathway from physical activity to reduced addiction, and practical implications for developing targeted interventions that combine physical activity promotion with strategies to reduce social anxiety and loneliness among college students.