The effects of mobile phone addiction on learning engagement of Chinese college students - the mediating role of physical activity and academic self-efficacy

Background: With the widespread adoption of smartphones, mobile phone addiction has increasingly gained prominence among Chinese college students, exerting a profound and detrimental impact on their learning engagement. This study employs self-determination theory as a framework to examine the mechanisms through which mobile phone addiction affects students' learning engagement. Specifically, it examines the mediating effects of physical activity and academic self-efficacy in this relationship.

Methods: This study was conducted from March to June 2024, using the Mobile Phone Addiction Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, Physical Activity Scale, and Academic Self-Efficacy Scale among college students from eight universities in Shaanxi Province. The survey was conducted using the Chinese online questionnaire platform "Questionnaire Star,"and 4,562 valid questionnaires were finally obtained. SPSS 29.0 and AMOS 29.0 were used for data analysis and structural equation model testing.

Results: The results revealed significant negative correlations between mobile phone addiction and learning engagement (r = -0.434, p < 0.01), physical activity (r = -0.732, p < 0.01), and academic self-efficacy (r = -0.338, p < 0.01). Conversely, there were significant positive correlations between learning engagement and physical activity (r = 0.335, p < 0.01), and academic self-efficacy (r = 0.717, p < 0.01). The study's hypothesized model demonstrated a good overall fit, with indices including χ²/df = 4.213, RMSEA = 0.040, and GFI, AGFI, NFI, and CFI all exceeding 0.90. Mobile phone addiction was found to directly impact learning engagement (point estimate = -0.150, p < 0.001) and indirectly through three mediated pathways: physical activity (point estimate = -0.068, p < 0.001), academic self-efficacy (point estimate = -0.298, p < 0.001), and their chained effect (point estimate = -0.377, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This research has expanded the theoretical framework and intervention approaches regarding the inter-relationship between mobile phone addiction and learning engagement. Increasing individuals' physical activity levels and fostering their academic self-efficacy offers a means to alleviate the detrimental impact of mobile phone addiction on the learning engagement of college students.