The mechanism of physical exercise and adolescent short-form video app addiction: the chain mediating role of autonomous motivation and mental health literacy.

Physical exercise showed a statistically significant negative correlation with adolescent short-form video app addiction.

• Study employed a cross-sectional survey design using convenience sampling and stratified sampling
• Sample consisted of 644 junior and senior high school students
• Physical exercise was measured using the Physical Activity Rating Scale
• Short-form video app addiction was measured using the Short-form Video App Addiction Scale
• Data analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS 4.1

Autonomous motivation independently mediated the relationship between physical exercise and adolescent short-form video app addiction.

• Autonomous motivation was measured using the Autonomous Motivation Scale
• Physical exercise was positively associated with autonomous motivation
• Higher autonomous motivation was associated with lower levels of short-form video app addiction
• Mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS 4.1
• This represents one of two independent mediation pathways identified in the study

Mental health literacy independently mediated the relationship between physical exercise and adolescent short-form video app addiction.

• Mental health literacy was measured using the Mental Health Literacy Scale
• Physical exercise was positively associated with mental health literacy
• Higher levels of mental health literacy were associated with lower levels of short-form video app addiction
• This represents one of two independent mediation pathways identified in the study
• Reliability and validity assessment was conducted using AMOS 24

Autonomous motivation and mental health literacy played a chain mediating role between physical exercise and adolescent short-form video app addiction.

• The chain mediation pathway runs from physical exercise through autonomous motivation to mental health literacy to short-form video app addiction
• This chain mediation pathway was identified in addition to the two independent mediation pathways
• Analysis was performed using PROCESS 4.1 for mediation analysis
• The cross-sectional nature of the data limits causal inference regarding the directionality of these associations

The study recommends that schools and families integrate physical exercise, autonomous motivation development, and mental health literacy enhancement as a comprehensive health promotion approach.

• Authors suggest this integration should occur within holistic practices promoting adolescent health development
• The approach is framed as potentially providing a reference for future research on promoting healthy digital media use habits among adolescents
• Authors note that directionality of the identified associations and potential intervention effects require further validation through longitudinal tracking or experimental studies
• The cross-sectional design was identified as a key limitation precluding causal inference