Abstract
Problematic smartphone use (PSU) has become a prevalent issue worldwide. Previous studies suggest that physical exercising may effectively reduce smartphone users' addiction levels. Comparisons and further evaluations on the long-term effects of different types of exercise-based interventions on treating PSU remain to be investigated. Objective. We investigated if group-based basketball and Baduanjin exercise (a type of Qigong) would reduce PSU and improve the mental health of college students and whether such effects would be sustained. A twelve-week experiment was conducted, where 96 eligible Chinese college students with PSU were randomly assigned to two intervention arms (i.e., basketball and Baduanjin exercises) and a control arm. Outcome measures, including PSU (measured by the Mobile Phone Addiction Index in Chinese (MPAI)) and mental health indices for anxiety (measured by Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SRAS)), loneliness (measured by the short-form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS)), inadequacy (measured by the revised Janis and Field's Feelings of Inadequacy Scale (FIS)), and stress (measured by the Chinese version of Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS)) were collected at the baseline, the end of week 12, and the two-month follow-up. A Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model for longitudinal data was utilized in analyses. Results. Both exercise interventions demonstrated significant effects on decreasing PSU (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p < 0.01), feelings of anxiety (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p=0.04), loneliness (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p < 0.01), inadequacy (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p < 0.01), and perceived stress (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p=0.04), at the end of interventions. At two months after interventions, both exercise interventions demonstrated significant effects on decreasing PSU (basketball: p < 0.05; Baduanjin: p < 0.05), feelings of anxiety (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p=0.03), loneliness (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p < 0.01), and inadequacy (basketball: p < 0.01; Baduanjin: p=0.01), but not for feeling of stress. Furthermore, group-based basketball demonstrated larger improvements for all these significant results on reducing PSU and meanwhile improving their related mental health parameters among college students.
Highlights
With the development of smartphone technology in recent decades, the number of smartphone users has grown dramatically throughout the world
Recent studies reported that individuals with problematic smartphone use (PSU) encountered various physical, psychological, and social problems that could do great harm to their lives [2,3,4], for vulnerable youths who account for a significant proportion of the affected population worldwide [5, 6]
As a valuable comparison of mental health healing effects by different types of exercise interventions, the present study aimed to examine the impacts of these two typical exercises on reducing PSU of college students, who are at a higher risk for developing lifelong unhealthy habits
Summary
With the development of smartphone technology in recent decades, the number of smartphone users has grown dramatically throughout the world. Recent studies reported that individuals with PSU encountered various physical, psychological, and social problems that could do great harm to their lives [2,3,4], for vulnerable youths (including college students) who account for a significant proportion of the affected population worldwide [5, 6]. According to a recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials [7] on exercise interventions including typical aerobic exercises such as running, bicycling, basketball, badminton, football, tennis, and dancing, as well as aerobic exercises containing mindful movements such as Baduanjin and Taichi, doing physical exercising was found with evidence to effectively reduce the smartphone users’ addiction levels, and prolonged engagement in exercise was associated with fewer withdrawal and mood-related symptoms
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