Stepping away from the scroll: a chain mediation model from physical exercise and adolescent short video addiction

In this study, the relationships among physical exercise, psychological resilience, depression, and short video addiction were examined, and the sequential mediating roles of psychological resilience and depression were tested, with the objective of providing theoretical support for adolescent mental health interventions.

In September 2024, convenience sampling was used to recruit 1,002 adolescents from 6 primary and secondary schools in Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Anhui Provinces, China. Paper questionnaires were administered and collected in classrooms by researchers and teachers. The survey covered sociodemographic information and four standardized scales: the Physical Activity Rating Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (2 items), the simplified Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Short Video Addiction Scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS 23.0 for descriptive and correlational statistics, and sequential mediation was tested using the PROCESS macro (Model 6).

Physical exercise was negatively correlated with depression (r = -0.260) and short video addiction (r = -0.269) and positively correlated with psychological resilience (r = 0.229). Psychological resilience was negatively related to depression (r = -0.174) and short video addiction (r = -0.186), whereas depression was positively related to short video addiction (r = 0.345). Mediation analysis confirmed that psychological resilience and depression sequentially mediated the relationship between physical exercise and short video addiction.

Physical exercise influences short video addiction both directly and indirectly by enhancing psychological resilience and reducing depression. These findings highlight the protective role of physical exercise in mitigating short video addiction and provide theoretical evidence for adolescent mental health interventions.