The impact of peer pressure on short video addiction of Chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND: The rising popularity of short videos has sparked increasing worry about their potential for adolescent addiction. Guided by the ACE (Anonymity, Convenience, and Escape) and cognitive-behavioral model, our investigation examines how peer pressure is linked to this addiction, with specific attention to the mediating function of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and the buffering effect of social support. METHODS: 699 secondary school students completed an anonymous cross-sectional survey. Participants engaged with the Peer Pressure Questionnaire, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short, Adolescent Social Support Scale, and Short-Form Video Addiction Scale. We tested a moderated mediation model to analyze the data. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that peer pressure was significantly associated with addiction. Maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies partially mediated the association between peer pressure to short video addiction (β = 0.05, 95% CI [0.02, 0.08]). However, adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies did not demonstrate a significant mediating effect. Furthermore, social support was associated with a weaker impact of peer pressure on maladaptive strategies (β = -0.10, 95% CI [།0.17, །0.02]). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that peer pressure is significantly associated with short video addiction through emotion regulation mechanisms, with social support exerting context-dependent associations. The research offers a theoretical basis for creating focused interventions to decrease short video addiction in adolescents.