Comparative changes in problematic smartphone use tendencies across four active exercise modalities among college...

To compare pre-post changes in problematic smartphone use tendencies and emotion regulation across four exercise modalities and examine whether cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression changes accounted for between-modality differences in SAS-SV reduction.

Ninety college students were assessed; five were excluded before randomization for exercise contraindications, and 85 were randomized to aerobic training, strength training, VR-based gamified exercise, or combined training. Seventy-seven participants completing both assessments and at least 80% of sessions entered a modified per-protocol complete-case analysis; no intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. All groups completed a 12-week intervention. Outcomes were assessed pre and post-intervention. Group differences were examined using mixed-design ANOVA, followed by exploratory multicategorical parallel mediation with aerobic training as the reference.

SAS-SV scores and expressive suppression decreased, whereas cognitive reappraisal increased, in all groups. Significant time × group interactions occurred for SAS-SV, F(3, 73) = 45.205, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.650; cognitive reappraisal, F(3, 73) = 21.992, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.475; and expressive suppression, F(3, 73) = 18.860, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.437. The combined group showed the largest changes. Relative to aerobic training, total indirect effects were 0.722 for strength training, 1.253 for VR-based exercise, and 1.916 for combined training; mediator-specific indirect effects were nonzero for all contrasts.

The four modalities were associated with different magnitudes of pre-post change, with combined training showing the largest changes. Without diagnostic selection or a non-exercise control, the findings concern problematic smartphone use tendencies in a college-student sample and do not establish exercise-specific effects or causal mediation.