Qin Xiangrong, Liu Liangru, Yan Yan, Guo Xuxia, Yang Ningqi, Li Ling
School of Physical Education, Guangxi University, Nanning, China.
Front Public Health. 2025 Apr 3;13:1512812. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1512812. eCollection 2025.
Anxiety symptoms are common among university students in China, posing challenges to mental health. Physical activity may reduce anxiety, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. This study examines how smartphone addiction acts as a mediator and sleep quality as a moderator in the relationship between physical activity and anxiety, aiming to offer theoretical insights and practical strategies for mental health interventions.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2023 at Guangxi University. A stratified sampling method was used to approach 719 students from diverse physical education classes to distribute questionnaires, and 527 valid questionnaires were returned. Validated instruments included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). Data analysis involved standardization, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, normality testing, mediation and moderation analyses, and Bootstrap validation.
(1) Physical activity was negatively correlated with smartphone addiction ( = -0.13, < 0.01). (2) Smartphone addiction was positively correlated with poor sleep quality ( = 0.40, < 0.01) and anxiety ( = 0.43, < 0.01). (3) Poor sleep quality and anxiety were significantly correlated ( = 0.57, < 0.01). (4) A masking effect occurred as the non-significant positive direct effect ( = 0.062) was nearly canceled out by the mediation of smartphone addiction ( = -0.058), inducing total effect near-zero. (5) Sleep quality significantly influenced the link between smartphone addiction and anxiety, especially in those with poorer sleep, where the impact of smartphone addiction on anxiety was stronger ( = 0.061, = 0.036).
This study revealed a more complex relationship between physical activity and anxiety than initially hypothesized. Our findings further revealed the relationship between physical activity and university students' anxiety, and considered the mediating role of smartphone addiction between the two, as well as the moderating role of sleep quality in the relationship between mobile phone addiction and university students' anxiety.
焦虑症状在中国大学生中很常见，对心理健康构成挑战。体育活动可能会减轻焦虑，但其中的机制尚未完全明确。本研究探讨智能手机成瘾如何在体育活动与焦虑之间起中介作用，以及睡眠质量如何起调节作用，旨在为心理健康干预提供理论见解和实践策略。
本横断面研究于2023年9月在广西大学进行。采用分层抽样方法，对来自不同体育课的719名学生发放问卷，回收有效问卷527份。使用的经过验证的工具包括国际体力活动问卷简表（IPAQ-SF）、智能手机成瘾量表简版（SAS-SV）、匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）和自评焦虑量表（SAS）。数据分析包括标准化、描述性统计、Pearson相关性分析、正态性检验、中介和调节分析以及Bootstrap验证。
（1）体育活动与智能手机成瘾呈负相关（ = -0.13， < 0.01）。（2）智能手机成瘾与睡眠质量差（ = 0.40， < 0.01）和焦虑（ = 0.43， < 0.01）呈正相关。（3）睡眠质量差与焦虑显著相关（ = 0.57， < 0.01）。（4）由于不显著的正向直接效应（ = 0.062）几乎被智能手机成瘾的中介作用（ = -0.058）抵消，出现了掩盖效应，导致总效应接近零。（5）睡眠质量显著影响智能手机成瘾与焦虑之间的联系，尤其是在睡眠较差的人群中，智能手机成瘾对焦虑的影响更强（ = 0.061， = 0.036）。
本研究揭示了体育活动与焦虑之间的关系比最初假设的更为复杂。我们的研究结果进一步揭示了体育活动与大学生焦虑之间的关系，并考虑了智能手机成瘾在两者之间的中介作用，以及睡眠质量在手机成瘾与大学生焦虑关系中的调节作用。
