Academic Journal
Internet addiction and appearance anxiety among university students in Shanghai: upward social comparison as a mediator and autonomous participation in physical activity as a moderator.
| Τίτλος: | Internet addiction and appearance anxiety among university students in Shanghai: upward social comparison as a mediator and autonomous participation in physical activity as a moderator. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Huang X; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Qi J; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.; School of Economics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Dou H; College of Physical Education, Huangshan University, Huangshan, China., Chen X; Department of Physical Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China., Xi Y; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Jia Y; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Xiao Q; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Li J; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China., Qiu H; School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China., Liu B; Physical Education College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. |
| Πηγή: | Frontiers in public health [Front Public Health] 2026 Jun 11; Vol. 14, pp. 1852639. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 11 (Print Publication: 2026). |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Frontiers Editorial Office Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101616579 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2296-2565 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 22962565 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Front Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Lausanne : Frontiers Editorial Office |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Students*/psychology , Students*/statistics & numerical data , Internet Addiction Disorder*/psychology , Internet Addiction Disorder*/epidemiology , Anxiety*/epidemiology , Anxiety*/psychology , Exercise*/psychology , Body Image*/psychology , Behavior, Addictive*/psychology , Social Comparison*, China/epidemiology ; Humans ; Universities ; Female ; Male ; Young Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Internet ; Digital Media |
| Περίληψη: | Introduction: Appearance anxiety is increasingly common among university students in the digital era, yet the mechanisms linking internet addiction to appearance anxiety remain unclear. Methods: Using survey data from 522 undergraduates from five universities in Shanghai, we tested a mediation model in which upward social comparison explains the association between internet addiction and appearance anxiety, and a moderated mediation model in which autonomous participation in physical activity (APPA) buffers this pathway. Analyses were conducted with Hayes' PROCESS (Models 4 and 58), controlling for demographic variables and daily internet use time. Results: (1) Internet addiction was not directly associated with appearance anxiety. However, upward social comparison accounted for a significant indirect association between Internet addiction and appearance anxiety, with an indirect effect of 0.105, representing 56.15% of the total effect. (2) APPA moderated both the association between Internet addiction and upward social comparison and the association between upward social comparison and appearance anxiety. Specifically, these associations were weaker among students with higher levels of APPA. Discussion: (1) Internet addiction is indirectly associated with appearance anxiety through upward social comparison. (2) APPA may buffer this indirect pathway by weakening the associations between Internet addiction and upward social comparison, and between upward social comparison and appearance anxiety. These results highlight the potential value of addressing maladaptive social comparison in online contexts and promoting autonomous engagement in physical activity in prevention and intervention practices. (Copyright © 2026 Huang, Qi, Dou, Chen, Xi, Jia, Xiao, Li, Qiu and Liu.) |
| Competing Interests: | The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: appearance anxiety; autonomous participation in physical activity; internet addiction; university students; upward social comparison |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260629 Date Completed: 20260629 Latest Revision: 20260629 |
| Update Code: | 20260630 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13293903 |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1852639 |
| PMID: | 42368932 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 2296-2565 |
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| DOI: | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1852639 |