Moderating Role of Multiple Screen Addiction on High Body Mass

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Abstract
Today, the increasing use of multiple media has led to an increase in the concern of screen addiction. This study aimed to evaluate the direct and indirect dimensions of the relationship between multiple screen addiction and body mass. This cross‐sectional study was conducted on 728 university students. The Multiple Screen Addiction Scale, the Hedonistic Eating Scale, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were used to measure screen addiction and its effects. Direct and indirect factors were analyzed to evaluate the relationship between screen addiction and body mass index (BMI). The mean age of the students included in the study was 20.78± 3.94 years (min. 18—max. 54). The prevalence of multiple screen addiction was 13%. It was found that hedonic eating scale scores were higher in people with multiscreen addiction. While there was a weak positive correlation between the multiscreen addiction score and hedonistic eating, no significant correlation was found between BMI and physical activity level. Logistic regression analysis showed that the direct effect of multiscreen addiction on BMI was not significant. Multiscreen addiction was an important moderator in the relationship between hedonistic eating and BMI; increasing the mean of multiscreen addiction by one standard deviation led to an increase of 0.073 units in BMI. The moderator effect of multiscreen addiction was significant at high addiction scores. The direct and moderator effects of physical activity on BMI were not found to be significant. High levels of multiple screen addiction are an important moderator in the relationship between high BMI and hedonistic eating. Elucidating the relationship between screen addiction and hedonia will help solve the problem.

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