The research, published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, tracked 1,205 Chinese college students across three waves of assessment, spaced six months apart, from November 2024 to December 2025. At each wave, participants completed online questionnaires measuring their problematic use of short-form video (PUSV), depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, alongside demographic variables. The team, led by Guangyu Sun of South China Normal University, then applied sophisticated statistical techniques—growth mixture modeling and parallel-process latent class growth analysis—to identify distinct trajectories of symptom change over time, rather than treating all students as a homogeneous group.

The results revealed a striking pattern. For depressive symptoms alone, three independent trajectories emerged: a low-decreasing group whose symptoms started low and improved, a moderate-increasing group whose symptoms worsened from a moderate starting point, and a high-increasing group whose symptoms began high and climbed further. Anxiety symptoms followed the same three-profile structure. Crucially, the researchers found that students with higher baseline levels of problematic short-form video use were significantly more likely to belong to the moderate-increasing and high-increasing trajectory groups for both types of symptoms.

What makes this study particularly compelling is its parallel-process analysis, which examined how depressive and anxiety symptoms co-developed within the same individuals over time. When the researchers modeled joint trajectories—tracking the simultaneous evolution of both symptom types—three profiles again emerged: low-decreasing, moderate-increasing, and high-increasing. Once again, higher baseline PUSV predicted membership in the worsening groups. This suggests that problematic short-form video use isn’t just linked to one type of internalizing symptom; it appears to differentiate students whose depression and anxiety co-escalate together from those whose symptoms remain stable or improve.

The findings extend a growing body of evidence on the mental health impacts of short-form video platforms. Previous research has shown that viewing personalized video clips recommended by TikTok activates the default mode network and ventral tegmental area—brain regions associated with self-referential thought and reward processing. Other studies have documented an imbalance between goal-directed and habitual systems in problematic short-form video users, suggesting that the behavior becomes increasingly automatic and less under deliberate control. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in the Journal of Medical Internet Research further confirmed associations between short-form video use and poorer mental health outcomes.

Several theoretical frameworks help explain these dynamics. The Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model proposes that specific internet-use disorders develop through interactions among individual vulnerabilities, emotional states, cognitive processes, and executive control. The compensatory internet use model, meanwhile, suggests that people turn to online behaviors to escape negative emotions—a pattern that could create a vicious cycle in which short-form video use temporarily relieves distress but ultimately deepens it. The new study’s longitudinal design strengthens the case that problematic use may actively contribute to symptom escalation rather than simply reflecting it.

The co-development of depression and anxiety is itself well documented. Comorbidity research spanning two decades has shown that these conditions frequently occur together, particularly in young people, and time-varying dynamics studies have demonstrated how co-occurring depressed mood and anxiety influence each other over time. By identifying joint trajectories, the new research captures this co-escalation in a way that single-symptom analyses cannot, revealing that the same behavioral risk factor—problematic short-form video use—may push students toward worsening profiles across both symptom domains simultaneously.

The practical implications are significant. The authors suggest that early screening for problematic short-form video use could help identify college students at risk for developing or worsening internalizing symptoms before they escalate. Interventions targeting PUSV—whether through self-control training, cognitive bias modification, or behavioral alternatives such as physical exercise—might then prevent or alleviate depressive and anxiety symptoms. Previous intervention research has shown promise: a cluster randomized controlled trial demonstrated that short video-based mental health interventions could reduce depressive symptoms in students, while a table tennis intervention study found that physical activity reduced short video addiction through chained effects on cognitive bias and self-control.

Limitations remain. The study relied on self-report questionnaires, which may be subject to reporting biases, and the sample consisted exclusively of Chinese college students, raising questions about generalizability to other populations and cultural contexts. The three-wave design, while stronger than cross-sectional studies, still cannot definitively establish causation. Nevertheless, the consistency of the findings across independent and joint trajectory analyses, and the prospective prediction from baseline PUSV to later symptom trajectories, provides compelling evidence that how students engage with short-form video matters for their mental health futures.

As short-form video applications continue their global proliferation, the study offers a timely warning: the mental health consequences of these platforms may not be immediately visible but can unfold gradually over months. For the millions of young people worldwide who use these apps daily, the message is clear—problematic engagement with the endless scroll may be quietly shaping not just how they feel today, but how their symptoms will develop over the year ahead. Early recognition and intervention, the researchers argue, may be key to breaking that trajectory before it takes hold.

Subject of Research: A one-year longitudinal study shows problematic short-form video use predicts worsening depression and anxiety trajectories among Chinese college students.

Article Title: Problematic Use of Short-form Video Predicts Independent and Joint Trajectories of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms: A Three-wave Longitudinal Study on Chinese College Students

Article References: Sun, G., Wang, D., & Zhang, W. (2026). Problematic Use of Short-form Video Predicts Independent and Joint Trajectories of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms: A Three-wave Longitudinal Study on Chinese College Students. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-026-01749-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s11469-026-01749-6

Keywords: short-form video, depression, anxiety, college students, longitudinal study, mental health, TikTok, addiction, Problematic, Short-form, Video, Predicts