Latent profiles of problematic internet use and their associations with physical activity levels among college...

To identify latent profiles of problematic internet use (PIU) among college students and examine their associations with physical activity (PA) levels.

A stratified cluster sampling survey was conducted among 2,660 college students from central China. Problematic short video, social media, and internet game use were assessed using validated scales, and PA level was measured using the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify PIU profiles. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the associations between PA levels and profile membership after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics.

Four heterogeneous latent profiles of problematic internet use were identified among college students: the Low-risk problematic use profile (n = 1,630, 61.28%), the Social media-dominant problematic use profile (n = 304, 11.43%), the Gaming-dominant problematic use profile (n = 478, 17.97%), and the High-risk problematic use profile (n = 248, 9.32%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that, compared with the Low-risk profile, male students had higher odds of membership in the Gaming-dominant profile (OR = 2.122, 95%CI:1.697-2.654) and the High-risk profile (OR = 1.714, 95%CI:1.292-2.273), but lower odds of membership in the Social media-dominant profile (OR = 0.767, 95%CI:0.598-0.983). Sophomore and junior students had significantly higher odds of membership in all three non-low-risk profiles, whereas senior students had significantly lower odds. Off-campus residence was associated with lower odds of membership in the Gaming-dominant profile (OR = 0.508, 95%CI:0.298-0.864). High-level physical activity was associated with lower odds of membership in the Social media-dominant (OR = 0.585, 95%CI:0.395-0.866), Gaming-dominant (OR = 0.371, 95%CI:0.255-0.539), and High-risk profiles (OR = 0.552, 95%CI:0.353-0.862). Moderate-level physical activity was associated with lower odds of membership only in the Gaming-dominant profile (OR = 0.795, 95%CI:0.632-0.999).

PIU among college students exhibits substantial heterogeneity. The observed associations between PA levels and profile membership may inform targeted PIU prevention strategies.