Background <p>This study investigated the longitudinal relationship from school burnout to short video addiction among middle school students, considering the potential mediating role of psychological distress.</p> Methods <p>Utilizing a two-wave longitudinal survey with a 12-month interval, the research involved 398 middle school students from three schools in Wuhan, China. Participants completed the School Burnout Inventory, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), and the Short Video Overuse Behavior Scale.</p> Results <p>Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed that school burnout at T1 significantly predicted short video addiction at T2, while the reverse path was non-significant. Furthermore, psychological distress significantly mediated the path from school burnout to short video addiction, though not vice versa.</p> Conclusions <p>School burnout serves as a longitudinal antecedent of short video addiction in adolescents. Psychological distress mediates the effect of school burnout on short video addiction, but no significant reverse effect was found. These findings enhance the current understanding of how academic disengagement relates to problematic short video use and provide practical insights for the prevention and intervention of short video addiction among middle school students.</p>