TY  - EJOU
AU  - Yang, Lei 
AU  - Liu, Yang 

TI  - The Relationship between Parental Marital Conflict and Adolescent Short Video Dependence: A Chain Mediation Model
T2  - International Journal of Mental Health Promotion

PY  - 2026
VL  - 28
IS  - 1
SN  - 2049-8543

AB  - <b>Background:</b> This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms between parental marital conflict and adolescent short video dependence by constructing a chain mediation model, focusing on the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and emotional disturbance (anxiety, depression, and stress). <b>Methods:</b> Conducted in January 2025, the research recruited 4125 adolescents from multiple Chinese provinces through convenience sampling; after data cleaning, 3957 valid participants (1959 males, 1998 females) were included. Using a cross-sectional design, measures included parental marital conflict, experiential avoidance, anxiety, depression, stress, and short video dependence. <b>Results:</b> Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations among all variables. Mediation analysis using the SPSS PROCESS macro showed that parental marital conflict directly predicted short video dependence (<i>β</i> = 0.269, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and also significantly predicted experiential avoidance (<i>β</i> = 0.519, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), anxiety (<i>β</i> = 0.072, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), depression (<i>β</i> = 0.067, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and stress (<i>β</i> = 0.048, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Experiential avoidance further predicted anxiety (<i>β</i> = 0.521, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), depression (<i>β</i> = 0.489, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), stress (<i>β</i> = 0.408, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and short video dependence (<i>β</i> = 0.244, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). While both anxiety (<i>β</i> = 0.050, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) and depression (<i>β</i> = 0.116, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) positively predicted short video dependence, stress did not (<i>β</i> = 0.019, <i>p</i> = 0.257). Overall, experiential avoidance, anxiety, depression, and stress significantly mediated the relationship between parental marital conflict and short video dependence. <b>Conclusion:</b> These findings confirm that parental marital conflict not only directly influences adolescent short video dependence but also operates through a chain mediation pathway involving experiential avoidance and emotional disturbance, highlighting central psychological mechanisms and providing theoretical support for integrated mental health and behavioral interventions.
KW  - Parental marital conflict; experiential avoidance; anxiety; depression; stress; emotional disturbance; short video dependence

DO  - 10.32604/ijmhp.2025.073529