Gender differences in the relationship between parent-adolescent attachment anxiety and adolescent short-form video addiction: the mediating role of fear of missing out

The rising prevalence of short-form video addiction among adolescents has raised researchers’ concerns. However, the antecedents of adolescents’ short-form video addiction, particularly in relation to the attachments to fathers and mothers, remain inadequately explored. To bridge the gap, this study aimed to explore the relationship between adolescents’ attachment anxiety to fathers/mothers and their short-form video addiction, as well as the mediating role of fear of missing out (FoMO) and the moderating role of gender in these associations. The sample was 4,213 Chinese adolescents (2,001 girls; M_age = 16.41, SD_age =.77). The single-group path analysis showed that adolescents’ attachment anxiety to both fathers and mothers positively correlated with their short-form video addiction, and such positive associations were mediated by adolescents’ FoMO. The multiple-group path analysis revealed that adolescent attachment anxiety to fathers directly positively predicted boys’ short-form video addiction (but not girls’), whereas adolescents’ attachment anxiety to mothers directly positively predicted girls’ short-form video addiction (but not boys’). The findings provide innovative insights into how adolescents’ attachment anxiety toward parents relates to their short-form video addiction and could guide corresponding interventions.