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; Chung-Ying Lin

doi:10.3390/ijerph19052631

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

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 24;19(5):2631. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19052631.

Authors

Mohsen Saffari^{1

2}, Jung-Sheng Chen³, Hung-Ching Wu^{4

5}, Xavier C C Fung⁶, Chih-Cheng Chang^{7

8}, Yen-Ling Chang⁹, Ruckwongpatr Kamolthip¹⁰, Marc N Potenza^{11

12

13

14}, I-Ching Lin^{15

16

17}, Chung-Ying Lin^{4

10

18

19}

Affiliations

¹ Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1435916471, Iran.
² Health Education Department, Faculty of Health, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1435916471, Iran.
³ Department of Medical Research, E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Social Worker, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan 73657, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan 70246, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Health Psychology, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan 71101, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Family Medicine, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei 23445, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
¹¹ Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
¹² Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT 06109, USA.
¹³ Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
¹⁴ Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan.
¹⁶ Department of Family Medicine, Asia University Hospital, Taichung 41354, Taiwan.
¹⁷ Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Leisure, Chienkuo Technology University, Changhua 50094, Taiwan.
¹⁸ Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
¹⁹ Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.

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: addictive behaviors; female; internet addiction disorder; physical activity; smartphone use; weight stigma; young adults.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Behavior, Addictive* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise
Female
Humans
Internet Addiction Disorder
Smartphone
Students
Universities
Weight Prejudice*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding