Physical Exercise Decreases the Mobile Phone Dependence of University Students in China: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Guan Yang, Guang-xin Tan, Yue-xiang Li, Hai-ying Liu and Song-tao Wang
Additional contact information
Guan Yang: School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Guang-xin Tan: School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yue-xiang Li: Department of Physical Education, Guangzhou Vocational and Technical University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou 510550, China
Hai-ying Liu: School of Physical Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Song-tao Wang: School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-11

Abstract: This study aimed to explore the relationship between physical exercise (PE) and mobile phone dependence (MPD) in Chinese university students and verify the potential role of self-control (SC) in mediating the decrease of MPD by PE. Through the quota sampling, 608 students that complied with the requirements were surveyed from 10 universities in China. PE, MPD, and SC were assessed using standard scales. For data analysis, t-tests, correlation analysis, hierarchical regression, and regression analysis were carried out in turn. The results showed significant gender differences in PE, MPD, and SC. For male students, the level of PE and score of SC were higher than those in females, yet the MPD score was lower. PE and SC were negatively related to MPD ( r = −0.124, p < 0.01; r = −0.563, p < 0.001), so both could remarkably predict MPD ( β = −1.00, p < 0.05; β = −0.552, p < 0.001). Gender was also a significant predictor for MPD ( β = 0.089, p < 0.05). PE could, to some extent, decrease MPD, in which SC played a significant mediating role—its mediating effect accounted for nearly 71% of the total effect. The present study shows that PE is negatively correlated with MPD, and SC mediates the decrease of MPD by PE for university students in China. This indicates that the improvement of SC by PE could be a highly trustworthy and practicable way to effectively address the issue of MPD in university students or other young people across the world.

Keywords: physical exercise; mobile phone dependence; self-control; mediating effect; university students; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4098/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4098/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4098-:d:279816

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().