ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Addictive Behaviors
From Stress to Screen: Relationship Between Negative Life Events and Short Video Addiction Among College Students: A Chain-Mediated Effect of Depression and Experiential Avoidance
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- 2Guangzhou Huashang College, Guangzhou, China
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Introduction: In contemporary society, short video addiction has become an increasingly prevalent behavioral disorder among young individuals, raising concerns about its underlying causes and development. Method: A survey was conducted on a sample of Chinese college students (N = 843) to explore the impact of negative life events on short video addiction, as well as the underlying mechanisms. Results: (1) negative life events exert a significant positive influence on short video addiction among young people; (2) both depression and experiential avoidance serve as mediators in the relationship between negative life events and short video addiction; and (3) beyond their independent mediating effects, depression and experiential avoidance collectively function as a chained mediating mechanism in this process. Discussion: By elucidating the dynamic interplay between external environmental stressors and internal psychological processes, this research contributes to the theoretical under-standing of short video addiction among college students. Furthermore, it provides a valuable foundation for the development of targeted intervention strategies and mental health support programs aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of negative life events on digital behavior.
Keywords: Short Video Addiction, Negative life events, Stressful events, Depression, experiential avoidance
Received: 04 Aug 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhan and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yaorong Liu
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