Adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction: A serial mediation model of resilience and life satisfaction

This cross-sectional study explored the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Short-form Video Addiction (SVA) and investigated the potential mediating roles of resilience and life satisfaction. Participants comprised 11425 Chinese college students (M_age = 20.31; 47.72% female). We employed multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the ACEs¹-SVA² connection and constructed a structural equation model to analyze the relationships among the variables. First, the multiple logistic regression analysis revealed a significant increase in the likelihood of SVA² as the number of ACEs¹ increased (OR: 2.40, 95% CI: 2.001–2.888; OR: 4.68, 95% CI: 3.467–6.325). A strong linear association was observed between child abuse/neglect, violence outside the family, and SVA (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.388–1.604; OR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.170–1.449). Furthermore, significant differences were found based on sex (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.345–1.595), grade (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.509–2.367), and major (OR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.266–1.699). Second, the serial mediation model suggested that resilience and life satisfaction may serially mediate the relationship between ACEs¹ and SVA² (β = 0.009, SE = 0.001, 95% CI [0.006, 0.011]). These findings imply that promoting resilience and life satisfaction might mitigate the impact of ACEs¹ on SVA². Finally, we discuss the practical implications and limitations of the study.