Why attachment anxiety makes short-form video addiction more likely

By Dr. Priyom Bose, Ph.D.Reviewed by Lauren HardakerMar 30 2026

Behind endless scrolling may lie deeper emotional blind spots and attention struggles, as new research uncovers why some young adults are more vulnerable to short-form video overuse.

Study: From attachment anxiety to short video addiction: the roles of attentional control and alexithymia. Image credit: Javier Bermudez Zayas/Shutterstock.com

A recent Frontiers in Psychology study examined associations between short-form video addiction and attachment anxiety, attentional control, and alexithymia. Higher levels of short-form video addiction are positively associated with attachment anxiety, while indirect associations exist via two pathways, namely, higher alexithymia and lower attentional control.

Short-form video addiction and attachment anxiety theory

Short-form video addiction (SVA) involves excessive engagement with short-form video applications (e.g., TikTok), which could lead to reduced efficiency in daily activities and tendencies to use such videos for coping or escape. The problem is most prevalent in young populations such as university students, with reported prevalence rates sometimes as high as 27.12 %. Therefore, it is essential to develop a good understanding of the psychological correlates of SVA.

Susceptibility to behavioral addiction is closely linked to self-regulatory patterns in addition to external technological features, such as algorithmic recommendations and instant feedback. Attachment theory states that early interactions with primary caregivers have long-lasting effects on an individual and that insecure attachment has been associated with difficulties in regulating attention. SVA could be a compensatory behavioral tendency related to attachment-related vulnerabilities.

Attachment anxiety (AA) has been associated with negative self-evaluations, an intense fear of rejection, and a tendency to excessively seek reassurance to mitigate inner insecurity. It also shapes underlying cognitive processing, specifically attentional control (AC). In other words, AA is associated with impairments in an individual’s ability to allocate attention to current tasks, leading to observable deficits in AC.

Alexithymia (Ale) is a condition whereby an individual has difficulty describing feelings to others and identifying their own feelings. It is also closely linked to early attachment experiences. In early interactions with primary caregivers, unreliable or intrusive responses to a child’s emotional needs may eventually lead to a disorganized emotional world, manifesting as Ale. When such individuals are confronted with stress, they are unable to manage their emotions; as a result, short videos present a highly appealing “solution” and serve as a means of cognitive and emotional escape.

Evaluating the association between AA and SVA

Multiple hypotheses were tested: AA is associated with SVA through AC; AA is associated with SVA via Ale; and a more sequential pathway from AA to AC to Ale to SVA. A total of 364 Chinese university students were recruited for this study and completed a survey under the experimenter's guidance in classroom settings. Several exclusion criteria were applied to ensure data quality. The final sample comprised 342 undergraduate students aged 18–22 years, with 246 males and 96 females. The study employed a cross-sectional design using self-report measures.

Different scales were used to measure AA, AC, Ale, and SVA. The AA scale comprised eight items, rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). A higher total score signified higher AA. The Attentional Control Scale (ACS) comprised 20 items and two subscales: attentional focusing and attentional shifting. A score of 1 on a 4-point Likert scale implied strongly disagree, while a score of 4 signified strongly agree. Higher scores indicated greater attentional control.

The Chinese revised version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to assess Ale, while SVA was evaluated using a 20-item Short-Form Video Addiction Scale (SFVAS). The latter was developed for use with Chinese university students. Higher scores on the SFVAS indicated higher tendencies rather than clinical addiction.

AA is associated with SVA via attentional control and alexithymia

Concerning descriptive statistics and correlation among the variables under study, AA was positively associated with SVA (r = 0.21) and Ale (r = 0.39) and negatively related to AC (r = -0.19). The correlation between AC and SVA was -0.31, and that between SVA and Ale was 0.46. Overall, the distributions of the variables were approximately normal, supporting parametric analyses. Harman’s single-factor test indicated a low likelihood of significant common method bias, which could confound data interpretation.

Notable gender differences were observed in both attachment anxiety and attentional control, although no significant differences were found across academic year groups. Higher levels of attachment anxiety were associated with poorer attentional control, and gender also played a role in predicting attentional control levels. In turn, lower attentional control was linked to greater short-form video addiction, with gender again emerging as a contributing factor.

Attachment anxiety was also positively associated with short-form video addiction, whereas attentional control showed a negative relationship with addictive tendencies. Importantly, even after accounting for differences in attentional control, attachment anxiety remained linked to higher levels of short-form video use. Overall, these findings support the first hypothesis, indicating that attentional control partially explains the relationship between attachment anxiety and short-form video addiction.

Concerning the hypothesis of AA affecting SVA via Ale, the emotional pathway, higher attachment anxiety was associated with greater alexithymia, meaning individuals were more likely to struggle with identifying and describing their emotions. Gender also showed a modest relationship with alexithymia levels. In turn, higher alexithymia was linked to increased short-form video addiction. Together, these findings support the second hypothesis, indicating that difficulties in emotional processing help explain the link between attachment anxiety and problematic short-form video use. 

In the serial mediation analysis, gender and grade were included as covariates. Results indicated that Ale significantly positively predicted SVA, whereas AC significantly negatively predicted SVA. A bias-corrected percentile bootstrap procedure was conducted to test the chain mediation effects. Results showed that the total effect of AA on SVA was significant, whereas the direct effect was not significant after accounting for the mediators. However, all indirect paths were significant: AA to AC to SVA, AA to Ale to SVA, and AA to AC to Ale to SVA.

Conclusions

This study employed an integrated chain-mediated model to systematically examine the associations among SVA, AA, AC, and Ale. It was noted that AA is associated with greater engagement in short-form video use. Furthermore, differences were noted in self-regulatory capacities, i.e., AC and Ale.

The findings suggest potential targets for interventions. Individuals with higher AA could benefit from targeting factors such as AC and Ale. This “dual pathway” intervention strategy could help address the observed associations between SVA and AA. The findings should also be interpreted within the Chinese cultural context, where norms around emotional expression and regulation may shape how individuals engage with digital media.

Longitudinal research will be needed to clarify the direction of these relationships. However, given the cross-sectional and self-report nature of the study, these findings should be interpreted as associative rather than causal.

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