The relationship between short-form video use and depression among Chinese adolescents: Examining the mediating roles of need gratification and short-form video addiction.

Short-form video apps, such as TikTok, have become popular worldwide. Compared to traditional social media, they have powerful push algorithms and are more entertaining, which might lead to some negative effects. Research has attempted to identify the relationship between short-form video use and depression, but the processes mechanism underly the relationship was few in number. The present study explored the association between short-form video use and depression among Chinese adolescents and analyzed the mediating roles of need gratification and short-form video addiction. The participants included 1302 senior high school students (Mage = 16.03, SD = 0.76, 42.6 % boys). And a structure equation model with chain mediating was established using Mplus. The results showed (1) a direct association between short-form video use and adolescent depression, (2) that entertainment need gratification, social-related need gratification, and short-form video addiction acted as chain mediating factors, and (3) no gender difference in the model. The present study's findings revealed the important mediating role of addictive behavior between normal use behavior and depression and suggested that preventative and interventional plans based on need gratification should be developed to reduce short-form video addiction and improve mental health.

The Relationship of Parent-Child Technoference and Child Problematic Smartphone Use: The Roles of Parent-Child Relationship, Negative Parenting Styles, and Children's Gender.

Purpose: With the increasing ubiquity of smartphones in our daily lives, technoference has emerged as a novel threat to family relationships and child development. This study explored the impact of parent-child technoference on child problematic smartphone use and its underlying mechanism and potential gender difference among children. Participants and Methods: The participants were 3032 fourth-grade students (42.6% female; 80.6% one-child families; 32.9% lower income level families, 33.3% middle income level families; Mage = 10.59 years, SD=0.32) from 535 primary schools. Students in the target classes were invited to participate anonymously in the questionnaire survey in classrooms. Then, SPSS, AMOS and other software were used to analyze the data. Results: 1) Parent-child technoference, negative parenting styles and child problematic smartphone use were positively correlated with each other, while they were negatively correlated with parent-child relationship; 2) Parent-child technoference can not only directly and positively predict child problematic smartphone use, but also indirectly and positively predict child problematic smartphone use through parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles respectively; 3) Parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles play a chain mediating role between parent-child technoference and child problematic smartphone use; 4) There are significant gender differences in the chain mediation model. Conclusion: The results showed that parent-child technoference significantly affected child problematic smartphone use through a chain mediation of parent-child relationship and negative parenting styles. Gender differences were observed, with girls experiencing a more pronounced disruption in the parent-child relationship, while boys were more likely to develop problematic smartphone use. In cases of strained parent-child relationships due to technoference, girls also tended to perceive more negative parenting styles. These findings promote parents' understanding of the influencing factors and mechanisms of child problematic smartphone use, especially helpful for follow-up measures to prevent and intervene child problematic smartphone use from the perspective of families and parents.

Family Income and Child Depression: The Chain Mediating Effect of Parental Involvement, Children's Self-Esteem, and Group Differences.

Family income is an important factor that affects depression in children and can indirectly be associated with children's development through family and individual factors. However, few studies have examined the mechanism of multiple risk factors. Therefore, this study focused on the relationship between family income and child depression, as well as the chain mediating the roles of parental involvement and children's self-esteem both in single-parent families and intact families. A total of 1355 primary school students completed questionnaires that assessed family income, parental involvement, children's self-esteem, and depression. The results showed that family income influenced child depression through both the mediating roles of parental involvement and children's self-esteem and the chain mediating role of parental involvement and children's self-esteem. Meanwhile, family income only influenced child depression through chain mediation in single-parent families. The group differences in the mechanism of depression provide a reference for empirical research on depression intervention in children from different family structures.