Sex Differences in the Associations of Sports App Use and Clustered Lifestyle Behaviors with Mental Well-Being Among College Students: A National Cross-Sectional Study in China

Objectives: This study aimed to explore whether the association of lifestyle behaviors with mental well-being differed by sports app use among college students, while also examining differences by sex.

Methods: A total of 38,738 Chinese college students aged 19–22 years from a nationally cross-sectional survey in 2019 were included in this study. The Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale was applied to evaluate mental well-being. Clustered lifestyle behaviors were defined as unfavorable (zero to two healthy factors), intermediate (three healthy factors), or favorable (four to five healthy factors). The use of sports apps was classified as dichotomized frequently (sometimes and often) and infrequently (never, rarely, and occasionally). Log-binomial regression was used to investigate the associations.

Results: Intermediate (PR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.11–1.18) and unfavorable (PR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.26–1.33) lifestyles were positively associated with low mental well-being. Infrequently using sports apps was associated with low mental well-being (PR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.06–1.10). The magnitude of the association between an unfavorable lifestyle and low mental well-being was smaller among girls who frequently used sports apps (PR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.16–1.27) than among those who used them infrequently (PR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.24–1.38).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that integrating engagement with digital sports apps into campus health promotion strategies might help support mental well-being, especially for college students with multiple unhealthy lifestyle behaviors.