Open Access

ARTICLE

Relationship between Chinese Medical Students’ Perceived Stress and Short-Form Video Addiction: A Perspective Based on the Multiple Theoretical Frameworks

Zhi-Yun Zhang^1,*, Yaqiong Wu¹, Chenshi Deng², Peng Wang³, Weiguaju Nong^4,*

1 Personnel Department, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330103, China
2 School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330103, China
3 Graduate School, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330103, China
4 School of Education, Guangxi University of Foreign Languages, Nanning, 530222, China

* Corresponding Authors: Zhi-Yun Zhang. Email: ; Weiguaju Nong. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Causes, Consequences and Interventions for Emerging Social Media Addiction)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2025, 27(10), 1533-1551. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2025.070883

Received 26 July 2025; Accepted 24 September 2025; Issue published 31 October 2025

Abstract

Objectives: Medical students often rely on recreational internet media to relieve the stress caused by immense academic and life pressures, and among these media, short-form videos, which are an emerging digital medium, have gradually become the mainstream choice of students to relieve their stress. However, the addiction caused by their usage has attracted the widespread attention of both academia and society, which is why the purpose of this study is to systematically explore the underlying mechanisms that link perceived stress, entertainment gratification, emotional gratification, short-form video usage intensity, and short-form video addiction based on multiple theoretical frameworks including the Compensatory Internet Use Model (CIU), the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution Model (I-PACE), and the Use and Gratification Theory (UGT). Methods: A hypothetical model with 9 research hypotheses was constructed. Taking medical students from Chinese universities as the research subjects, 1057 valid responses were collected through an online questionnaire survey, including 358 males and 658 females. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed using the AMOS software to test the research hypotheses. Results: (1) Perceived stress positively predicted entertainment gratification and emotional gratification (β = 0.72, p < 0.001; β = 0.61, p < 0.001); (2) Entertainment gratification and emotional gratification positively influenced short-form video usage intensity (β = 0.35, p < 0.001; β = 0.19, p < 0.001); (3) Entertainment gratification and emotional gratification positively predicted short-form video addiction (β = 0.40, p < 0.001; β = 0.17, p < 0.001); (4) Short-form video usage intensity positively influenced short-form video addiction (β = 0.36, p < 0.001); and (5) Perceived stress exerted an indirect but positive effect on both short-form video usage intensity and short-form video addiction, mediated by entertainment and emotional gratification (β = 0.37, p < 0.001; β = 0.52, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The mechanisms that underlie medical students’ short-form video addiction in stressful situations were revealed in this study. It was found that stress enhances medical students’ need for entertainment and emotional online compensation, prompting more frequent short-form video usage and ultimately leading to addiction. These results underscore the need to address the stressors faced by medical students. Effective interventions should prioritise stress management strategies and promote healthier alternative coping mechanisms to mitigate the risk of addiction.

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Keywords

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