Physical exercise moderates the mediating effect of depression between physical and psychological abuse in childhood and social network addiction in college students

Physical and psychological abuse (physical-psychological abuse) can easily cause individual's future social network sites addiction (SNSA), and the psychological and behavioral mechanisms between the two need to be further explored. This study took physical-psychological abuse as the independent variable. SNSA as dependent variable to explore the relationship between the two and the intermediary variable adjustment. In March 2024, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in universities of seven provincial administrative units in China, and a total of 1484 (804 males; 680 females) valid data were collected. Data on physical-psychological abuse, SNSA, depression and physical exercise were collected. These variables were subsequently correlated and a moderated mediation model was constructed. The results showed that the physical-psychological abuse positively predicted SNSA in college students, and mediated through the depression. In addition, the predictive effect between physical-psychological abuse and depression in college students could be moderated by physical exercise. This study further explored the association between physical-psychological abuse and SNSA in college students, considering the mediating effect of depression and the moderating effect of physical exercise. The results suggest that college students who have experienced physical-psychological abuse should pay attention to the use of social network sites, and can alleviate the negative results caused by physical-psychological abuse through active physical exercise.