{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T03:41:20Z","timestamp":1790134880491,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Short-video addiction has become an increasingly important concern among college students, but the psychological processes through which general well-being is associated with problematic short-video use remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on the social compensation perspective and self-control theory, this study examined whether alienation and self-control are associated with the association between subjective well-being and short-video addiction. A total of 1,731 college students from eight universities in Hunan Province completed measures of subjective well-being, alienation, self-control, and short-video addiction. Correlation analyses and structural equation modeling indicated that subjective well-being was negatively associated with short-video addiction. Alienation and self-control each mediated this association, and a significant serial mediation pathway was also found. Specifically, lower subjective well-being was associated with greater alienation, which was further related to weaker self-control and higher levels of short-video addiction. These findings suggest that problematic short-video use among college students may reflect not only excessive media engagement, but also a broader psychological process involving social-emotional disconnection and impaired self-regulation. By integrating the social compensation perspective with self-control theory, this study provides a more comprehensive account of the mechanisms linking subjective well-being to short-video addiction and suggests the potential value of interventions that enhance well-being, reduce alienation, and strengthen self-control among college students.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1892672","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T09:08:41Z","timestamp":1787216921000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Linking subjective well-being to short-video addiction among college students: the serial mediating roles of alienation and self-control"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yang","family":"Peng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Counseling Center, Hunan Non-ferrous Metals Vocational And Technical College","place":["Zhuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Research Centre for Mental Health Education of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Research Centre for Mental Health Education of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ting","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aolei","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanyun","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Research Centre for Mental Health Education of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yueyue","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Research Centre for Mental Health Education of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]},{"name":"Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"Report on Short-Video Usage Intensity and Mental Health Status Among Different Populations in 2024","year":"2025"},{"key":"B2","first-page":"9","article-title":"Construction of evaluation index system for college students\u2019 short video usage needs based on grounded theory","volume":"16","author":"Wang","year":"2025","journal-title":"J News Res"},{"key":"B3","article-title":"Current status, behavioral motivations, and coping strategies of short video use among young college students","volume":"38","author":"Luo","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Textile University 38"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/bs14111082","article-title":"The relationships between short video usage and subjective well-being: Mediation models and network analysis","volume":"14","author":"Zhai","year":"2024","journal-title":"Behav Sci"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.847672","article-title":"Effects of short video addiction on the motivation and well-being of Chinese vocational college students","volume":"10","author":"Ye","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/appy.12122","article-title":"Is it meaningful to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction? 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