Effects of physical exercise on adolescent short video addiction: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

Objective: To discuss the effects of physical exercise (PE) on adolescent short video addiction (SVA) and analyze the mediating effects of self-control (SC) and the moderating effects of the cumulative ecological risk (CER), aiming to provide theoretical support for PE relative to adolescent SVA, investigate the underlying mechanisms of the effects of PE. Methods: The Physical Activity Rating Scale-3, Problematic TikTok Use Scale, Self-Control Scale, and Cumulative Ecological Risk Scale were used to survey 756 adolescents in Chongqing and Chengdu, China. SPSS was used to construct a research model by conducting reliability, confirmatory factor, common method bias, and AMOS analyses. Results: PE was significantly and negatively related to adolescent SVA (β = −0.30, p < 0.01). SC served as a partial mediator between PE and adolescent SVA, the direct and indirect effect values are −0.304 and −0.167 respectively, showing that SC negatively predicted the relationship between the two variables. The CER moderated the effect of PE (t = −11.679, p < 0.001) and SC (t = −15.069, p < 0.001) on adolescent SVA. Conclusion: PE mitigates and moderates adolescent SVA through the mediating effect of SC and the moderating effect of CER.

Keywords

• Adolescents
• Physical exercise
• Short video addiction
• Self-control
• Cumulative ecological risk