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Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
David Kohan

For the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
Exercise Physiology

The Relationship Between Internet Addiction, Psychological, Behavioral, and Physiological Variables in College Students

March 25, 2025
3:30 P.M.

The Relationship Between Internet Addiction, Psychological, Behavioral, and Physiological Variables in College Students

This dissertation examined the relationships between internet addiction, psychological, behavioral, and psychological variables in 43 healthy college students. Validated and reliable survey instruments were used to collect data, as well as bioelectrical impedance to measure body fat, and a smartphone application to assess heart rate variability. Our findings indicated there is a significant positive relationship between smartphone addiction, social media addiction, and internet addiction. There were also significant relationships between all three screen-based addiction measures and body fat percentage. In other words, greater screen-based addiction predicted greater body fat percentages. Our study was also the first to identify smartphone addiction as a possible mediator between body fat percentage and perceived stress. Smartphone addiction was also associated with depression and stress, which was similar to previous investigation. These findings suggest limiting screen time to promote weight loss and enhance mental health as a strategy to mitigate the negative impact of screen-based addiction. Future studies should use experimental designs to evaluate causation between these variables.