Parental Autonomy Support and Short-Form Video Addiction Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Delay of Gratification and The Moderating Role of Proactive Personality

Background Adolescent short-form video addiction is increasing, yet protective mechanisms are underexplored.Methods In a three-wave, 1-year longitudinal study, 1,017 Chinese middle school students (Mage = 15.85, SD = 0.88 at Time 1) reported short-form video addiction, parental autonomy support, delay of gratification, and proactive personality.Results Parental autonomy support prospectively predicted lower addiction; delay of gratification mediated this association. Proactive personality strengthened the link between parental autonomy support and delay of gratification.Conclusions Parental autonomy support may reduce short-form video addiction by enhancing adolescents’ capacity to delay gratification; intervention design should consider individual differences in temperament.