Personality traits have been shown to influence susceptibility to SVA. A study by Zeighami et al. (2021) found that personality traits, namely neuroticism and openness to experience had a significant effect on addiction susceptibility. Extensive research has reported a significant correlation between behavioral addictions and elevated levels of personality traits in both treatment and community-based studies (Passanisi et al., 2022; Bağcı and Horzum, 2022; Dudfield et al., 2023). For instance, addiction to social media has been linked to individual characteristics of users, such as higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of extraversion, which have been identified as predictors of social media addiction (Blackwell et al., 2017).

Personality plays a key role in how individuals mange stress and their tendencies toward addictive behaviors. For instance, shyness may be a significant predictor of internet and mobile phone addiction (Han et al., 2017; Tian et al., 2017). Individuals with a more shy personality are more likely to resort to addictive behaviors when using the internet (such as short video applications) to cope with stress. Additionally, a typical manifestation of shyness is a lack of social skills, which may also increase the chances of internet addiction (Iranmanesh et al., 2021). Mobile short video applications, with their relaxed content format, may offer users the possibility of stress relief anytime and anywhere. Receiving short-term rewards is becoming increasingly prevalent among users (Brand et al., 2016) and may exacerbate the SVA among teenagers (Dubey et al., 2020). Typically, individuals use short video applications as a temporary escape from the negative impacts of stress in the real world (Chu et al., 2020).

Mobile phone addiction has also been consistently linked to neuroticism (Giota and Kleftaras, 2013; Marciano et al., 2021; Montag and Markett, 2024). Individuals with higher levels of loneliness often turn to social media to compensate for the intimacy and sense of belonging they lack in real-world interactions (Ho et al., 2017). High levels of neuroticism are associated with an increased likelihood of social isolation (Whaite et al., 2018). Those with high neuroticism may develop anxiety about their social relationships, leading to a fear of isolation (Smith et al., 2017). To counteract these fears, individuals with high neuroticism may increase their media use, seeking virtual interactions that provide a sense of community and belonging (Xu et al., 2016; Blackwell et al., 2017).

Adolescents are in a critical period of personality development and are susceptible to becoming a high-risk group for SVA (Deng et al., 2017; Sha and Dong, 2021; Liu et al., 2021). They rely on establishing new social connections to maintain mental health, and the inability to create such connections may lead to low self-esteem, loneliness, and psychological distress (Tanta et al., 2014). Deep immersion in the flow experience of short videos may also indirectly influence students’ learning motivation and well-being through addictive behaviors (Ye et al., 2022), ultimately exerting a negative impact on their academic performance (Ye et al., 2023a). Moreover, many short video apps utilize personalized algorithm recommendations. Such personalized recommendation mechanisms allow these apps to continuously provide users with content tailored to their preferences, increasing their dependence on short videos and exacerbating the likelihood of addiction (Zhang et al., 2019). The personalized algorithm may also explain the higher failure rate faced by teenagers when trying to recover from SVA (Humphreys et al., 2017). Therefore, research and intervention regarding teenagers’ SVA are crucial to prevent further adverse impacts on their physical and mental health (Ye et al., 2023b; Ye et al., 2024). Once engrossed in short videos, teenagers might face functional brain changes and poorer mental health, intensifying their dependence on short videos and forming a vicious cycle (Mohammed et al., 2020).

Depression and anxiety are closely linked to personality. Depression, also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, is a common mental health condition. It is characterized by persistent and long-lasting feelings of sadness. People with depression often lose interest or pleasure in activities they once enjoyed. It can also cause a range of physical and cognitive symptoms. Anxiety is an emotional experience, often characterized by excessive worry, tension, and unease about potential threats, dangers, or future events (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals with elevated levels of neuroticism are more susceptible to experiencing these emotional disturbances, thereby increasing the likelihood of engaging in addictive behaviors (Lahey, 2009). Conversely, agreeableness is positively associated with robust social support systems. Research has shown that individuals with higher levels of agreeableness are more adept at managing stress, thereby reducing the likelihood of experiencing depression and anxiety (Jensen-Campbell and Graziano, 2001; Soto and John, 2017). This has been supported by subsequent research. A meta-analysis by Lyon et al. (2021) of 408 related studies also found that agreeableness was significantly negatively correlated with anxiety. Additionally, a study involving 323 Chinese college students also found that neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness significantly predicted anxiety in this population (Liu et al., 2023).

Previous research has highlighted the correlation between neuroticism and both depression and anxiety (Sailo and Lalremruati, 2020). A meta-analysis of 175 studies on personality traits and common affective disorders found that neuroticism was positively correlated with anxiety while openness and agreeableness were unrelated to almost all affective disorders (Kotov et al., 2010). This has been supported by subsequent research. Later studies confirmed that neuroticism increased social isolation and worsened anxiety (Whaite et al., 2018). Moreover, Gong et al. (2020) found that neuroticism was positively associated with depressive symptoms.

Depression and anxiety have potential links to SVA. Flores Mosri (2019) suggests that depression forms the foundation for addictive disorders. Several studies that show a positive correlation between the use of social networking sites and depression support this notion (Davila et al., 2012; Chu et al., 2020). Studies have shown that short video overuse can exacerbate depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms can also prompt individuals to use short video platforms more frequently (Zhang et al., 2024). This two-way relationship suggests that depression plays a role in the development of SVA.

A year-long longitudinal study by Kraut et al. (1998) observed that increased feelings of depression and loneliness were more common among those who spent more time online. Thus, depression and social anxiety have been reported repeatedly for excessive internet use (Ho et al., 2014). This suggests that negative emotions could lead to a heightened dependence on the internet, mobile phones, and short videos (Taipale, 2017). Supporting this, research by Elhai et al. (2016) and Flores Mosri (2019) has demonstrated a significant relationship between internet addiction and both depression and anxiety. It appears, therefore, that a maladaptive cycle is at play, where depression and anxiety not only result from but also contribute to further internet addiction, as noted by Mohammed et al., (2020).

Similarly, anxiety has a significant connection to addiction. For example, Cheever et al. (2014) and Clayton et al. (2015) found that many participants experienced increased heart rate and blood pressure when separated from their smartphones. During addiction withdrawal, individuals tend to undergo an unpleasant subjective experience that reinforces drug use. The association between smartphone use social anxiety may increase the risk of SVA among adolescents (Dey et al., 2019).

Despite research on the relationship between personality traits and SVA, limited studies have explored the mediating roles of depression and anxiety in this dynamic (Gongyu et al., 2024). This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating how these emotional states mediate the effects of personality on SVA among college students. Because of the strong comorbidity between depression and anxiety (Kessler and Wang, 2008; McTeague et al., 2017; Hettema, 2008; Goodkind et al., 2015), depressive disorders may induce anxiety, and the reverse is also true. Therefore, we hypothesized that neuroticism promotes SVA by increasing depression and anxiety, whereas agreeableness reduces the risk of addiction by alleviating these negative emotions. We separately discuss the different roles of depression and anxiety in the connection between personality and SVA in college students, with the aim of elucidating the link between personality and SVA (see Figure 1). We hypothesize that:

Building on the theoretical framework that links personality traits, depression, and anxiety to SVA, it becomes crucial to empirically explore these relationships in a real-world context. To this end, our study employed a methodologically rigorous approach to examine the interaction of these variables among Chinese college students.

The current study used random sampling on campus to recruit 804 participants from seven universities across China between January 2023 and June 2023. Among these universities, two were dedicated to teacher education, three specialized in science and engineering, and two were comprehensive institutions. Of the recruited participants, 35.7% (287) were male, and 64.3% (517) were female. This imbalance in gender distribution may lead to response bias. As a result, our findings might not fully represent the broader population of university students. To address this issue, we included gender as a control variable in our analysis to account for its potential impact on the results. All participants were undergraduate students aged between 18 and 22 years. Prior to data collection, the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Psychological Research of the authors’ institution. We emphasized the anonymity of the study and obtained consent from all participants. Participants completed the questionnaires in a quiet classroom or online and were free to withdraw from the study at any time.

Big Five personality traits were assessed using the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory Brief Version (Wang et al., 2011), a 40-item self-report questionnaire measuring aspects of personality including neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. Participants rated each item on a scale from 1 (did not apply to at all) to 6 (applied to me very much). Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was 0.83 for neuroticism, 0.81 for conscientiousness, 0.76 for agreeableness, 0.85 for openness, and 0.73 for extraversion.

Depression was assessed using the Chinese version of the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) developed by Zung (1965). This scale includes 20 items, with a four-point rating scale (ranging from “a little of the time” to “most of the time”). A higher score indicates a higher level of depression. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the current sample was 0.829.

Anxiety was assessed using the Chinese version of the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) developed by Zung (1971). This scale includes 20 items, with a four-point rating system (ranging from “a little of the time” to “most of the time”). A higher score indicates a higher level of anxiety. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the current sample was 0.874.

The College Students’ Short Video Addiction Questionnaire (Qin et al., 2019) was used to assess the level of SVA among college students. This scale includes 14 items, and is divided into four dimensions: lack of control, withdrawal, escapism, and inefficiency. Participants rated each item using a 5-point rating system, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A higher score indicates a stronger possibility of SVA. In this study, the internal consistency coefficients for the dimensions of the SVA scale were 0.475 for lack of control, 0.844 for withdrawal, 0.864 for escapism, and 0.815 for inefficiency. The overall internal consistency reliability coefficient was 0.887. The KMO value for the scale was 0.896, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant, indicating good structural validity for the questionnaire.

SPSS 27 was used for descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and regression analyses. In this mediation relationship study, we used specific dimensions of personality as independent variables, depression and anxiety as mediating variables, and SVA as the dependent variable. PROCESS program developed by Hayes (2018) has a total of 74 models, among which Model 6 best fits our research hypothesis as illustrated in Figure 1. The significance level of the mediating effect was tested using the bias-corrected non-parametric percentile Bootstrap method (n = 5,000).

As shown in Table 1, there was a significant correlation between SVA and depression, anxiety, gender, neuroticism, agreeableness, and extraversion. Depression was significantly related to anxiety, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and extraversion, while anxiety was significantly associated with neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. This result supports Hypothesis 1.

As shown in Table 2, regression analyses revealed that neuroticism (β = 0.569, p < 0.001), agreeableness (β = 0.141, p < 0.05), and extraversion (β = 0.238, p < 0.001) can predict SVA. Among them, neuroticism (13.6%) and agreeableness (6%) have a greater impact on SVA. Therefore, we will discuss the mediating relationships of depression and anxiety between neuroticism, agreeableness and SVA.

To further explore the specific relationship between neuroticism, agreeableness, depression, anxiety, and addiction, we used the PROCESS macro to analyze the chain mediation effect. While controlling for gender, we analyzed the mediating role of depression and anxiety between neuroticism (or agreeableness) and SVA.