Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Short-Form Video Addiction and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Attentional Bias

Previous studies have shown that short-form video addiction (SVA) is a significant predictor of adolescent depression. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms. Guided by the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between SVA and depression among Chinese adolescents and to examine the mediating role of attentional bias toward positive information (API) and negative information (ANI), including potential gender differences. A total of 4750 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 16.01, SD = 0.76, 62.15 percent male) completed self-reported scales for SVA, API, ANI, and depression. The structural equation modeling results indicated that both API and ANI mediated the relationship between SVA and depression. Moreover, multigroup analyses revealed that the mediating effect of ANI was significantly stronger in female than in male adolescents. These findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between SVA and depression in adolescents and suggest that developing gender-specific interventions could mitigate the detrimental effects of SVA on depression.