Effects of Weight-Related Self-Stigma and Smartphone Addiction on Female University Students’ Physical Activity Levels

Mohsen Saffari, Jung-Sheng Chen, Hung-Ching Wu, Xavier C. C. Fung, Chih-Cheng Chang, Yen-Ling Chang, Ruckwongpatr Kamolthip, Marc N. Potenza, I-Ching Lin and Chung-Ying Lin
Additional contact information
Mohsen Saffari: Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1435916471, Iran
Jung-Sheng Chen: Department of Medical Research, E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Hung-Ching Wu: Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Xavier C. C. Fung: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China
Chih-Cheng Chang: Department of Psychiatry, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan 70246, Taiwan
Yen-Ling Chang: Department of Family Medicine, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei 23445, Taiwan
Ruckwongpatr Kamolthip: Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Marc N. Potenza: Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
I-Ching Lin: Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
Chung-Ying Lin: Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Physical inactivity is a common health problem in female college students, and factors such as weight self-stigma and smartphone addiction may negatively impact physical activity in this population. The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between these variables and identify the moderating effects of smartphone addiction between weight stigma and physical activity. Using a cross-sectional study, information on the level of physical activity in the past week, weight-related self-stigma, and smartphone addiction, as well as demographics, were collected via an online survey from 391 female college students in Taiwan. Participants in two groups of moderate to high and low physical activity were compared using a zero-order bivariate correlation in terms of independent variables. A moderated mediation model using Model 14 in the Hayes’ PROCESS macro with 1000 bootstrapping resamples was applied to assess moderation effects. There were significant differences in terms of weight status, smartphone addiction, and weight stigma between active and inactive groups ( p < 0.001). All independent variables except for age were positively correlated (0.14 < r < 0.45). Multivariate regression models indicated that weight status was associated with weight stigma (odds ratio [OR] = 9.13, p < 0.001; 95% CI = 6.90, 11.35). Weight status (OR = 0.47, p = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.23, 0.93), weight stigma (OR = 0.96, p = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.922, 0.997), and smartphone addiction (OR = 0.11, p = 0.003; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.47) were associated with physical activity. The moderating role of smartphone addiction on the association between weight stigma and physical activity was also identified (OR = 1.05, p = 0.049; 95% CI = 1.0001, 1.1004). The moderating effect of smartphone addiction on the association between weight stigma and physical activity suggests that designing interventions to address the negative impacts of both weight stigma and smartphone addiction may help to improve physical activity in female college students.

Keywords: female; physical activity; smartphone use; weight stigma; young adults; addictive behaviors; internet addiction disorder (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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