A digital Skinner box: The bidirectional longitudinal relationship between anxiety symptoms, delay of gratification, and short‐form video addiction among Chinese adolescents

Abstract Along with the rapid popularization of short‐form video applications, adolescents' addiction to short‐form videos has received increasing attention, but research on the bidirectional relationship between short‐form video addiction (SFVA) and anxiety symptoms is limited. Therefore, the present study aimed to fill this gap by examining the interrelationship between these two variables and the potential mediating role of delayed gratification. This study surveyed 1143 Chinese high school students (50.04% male; M age = 15.87, SD = 0.88 at time 1) across two waves of data collection spaced 6 months apart, measuring SFVA, delay of gratification, and anxiety symptoms at both time points. Using cross‐lagged panel modeling, this study found that anxiety symptoms positively predicted subsequent SFVA, and SFVA positively predicted subsequent anxiety symptoms, suggesting a bidirectional relationship; furthermore, delay of gratification significantly mediated the relationship in both directions; specifically, anxiety symptoms increased the risk of SFVA by decreasing the ability to delay gratification, and vice versa. These findings emphasize the mediating role of delayed gratification, implying that interventions targeted at improving delayed gratification in adolescents may help to disrupt the vicious cycle of anxiety symptoms and SFVA.