Short video addiction among college students has become a major concern in the digital age.
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts offer quick entertainment but often lead to excessive screen time. This addiction affects students’ focus, academic performance, sleep patterns, and mental health.
Constant scrolling and algorithm-driven content reduce attention span and increase procrastination. Over time, it alters how students think, socialize, and handle stress.
Understanding these effects is essential to promote digital balance and healthier habits, helping students enjoy technology without compromising their well-being or educational goals in an increasingly media-driven world.
Discover how short video addiction affects college students’ attention span, academic performance, mental health, and social life, along with possible prevention strategies.
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| Lost in the scroll — where focus fades, connection weakens and learning stands still. |
What Are the Effects of Short Video Addiction on College Student’s Cognitive, Academic, Psychological, and Social Life?
Short video addiction refers to the compulsive and uncontrolled urge to watch short-form videos, often leading to a loss of focus, time mismanagement, and dependency on digital entertainment. This behavioral addiction, driven by the instant gratification loop of algorithms and personalized content, has quietly become a defining challenge in modern college life.
Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts cater to the short attention span of today’s youth—offering rapid, visually stimulating experiences that seamlessly blend amusement with distraction.
For college students, these platforms promise stress relief yet subtly foster procrastination, fragmented attention, and emotional overreliance on virtual engagement.
The growing prevalence of short video consumption among students worldwide underscores an urgent need to understand this phenomenon as more than mere entertainment—it is an emerging behavioral concern affecting cognitive, emotional, and academic domains.
Let’s explore how short video addiction shapes college students’ psychology, academic outcomes, and social behaviors.
Psychological and Cognitive Effects
Excessive reliance on short-form videos deeply reshapes the psychological and cognitive patterns of college students.
The rapid, ever-changing visuals of platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts overstimulate the brain’s reward system, creating cycles of instant gratification that gradually weaken sustained concentration.
Neural studies reveal that frequent exposure to short videos suppresses frontal-lobe activity tied to executive functions like focus, planning, and self-control, while overactivating emotional circuits linked to craving and impulse.
In this overstimulated state, attention becomes fragmented—students find it increasingly difficult to stay engaged with complex academic tasks or long readings.
Attentional control acts as a silent bridge between addiction and academic focus.
When short video consumption dominates, this control mechanism erodes, causing frequent task-switching and diminished cognitive endurance.
The more students rely on stimulus-driven engagement, the harder it becomes to initiate and complete goal-directed learning.
Consequently, the loss of attentional control fosters procrastination, impaired working memory, and declining academic performance.
Beyond cognitive disruption, emotional dependency emerges. Students addicted to short videos often exhibit restlessness, irritability, and anxiety when unable to access the apps—a withdrawal-like pattern resembling behavioral addiction.
This emotional turbulence reinforces the cycle: anxiety drives consumption, and consumption amplifies distraction.
As a result, college students trapped in this loop experience not only declining academic efficiency but also a subtle alteration in their emotional resilience and mental clarity—a high-speed cognitive drain masked by digital pleasure.
Academic Consequences
Short video addiction is increasingly recognized as a major disruptor of college students’ academic life, with robust research offering compelling data.
In a study of 1,047 Chinese undergraduates, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between short-form video addiction and academic procrastination (r=0.17,p<0.001).
Students with higher addiction scores consistently reported more frequent delays in assignment completion and exam preparation. This procrastinatory behavior is not just anecdotal but measurably tied to weaker attentional control, itself diminished by repeated high-stimulus digital engagement.
The same study found that short video addiction negatively affected attentional control (r=−0.23,p<0.001), leading to a downward spiral of distraction and avoidance of cognitively demanding academic tasks.
A separate 2024 investigation into 1,879 college students further quantified this phenomenon: short video addiction directly increased academic anxiety (β=0.26,p<0.001) and reduced academic engagement (β=−0.27,p<0.001), as measured by overall participation in learning activities and class focus.
For many, the consequence is not just lost study time but a marked decline in intrinsic learning motivation and sleep quality—both key factors in academic burnout.
The data shows overuse also reduces mindfulness, amplifying stress and detachment from study routines.
Ultimately, short video addiction subtly but conclusively transforms engaged learners into chronic task avoiders, breeding cycles of procrastination, anxiety, and academic underachievement, all rooted in a shifting digital landscape.
Mental Health Implications
Short video addiction has been empirically linked to multiple adverse mental health outcomes among college students.
In a 2024 Frontiers in Psychology study of 1,879 undergraduates, researchers discovered that excessive use of short video apps significantly increased academic anxiety (β=0.26,p<0.001) while lowering mindfulness and academic engagement (β=−0.27,p<0.001).
Mindfulness—a state of present, non-judgmental awareness—acts as a crucial mediator; as addiction deepens, mindfulness declines, leading to poorer emotional regulation, heightened stress sensitivity, and a reduced ability to manage academic pressure effectively.
Emotional distress is another defining mark of this digital dependency. Students addicted to short videos often experience restlessness, irritability, and pronounced anxiety when deprived of access—behavioral symptoms akin to withdrawal.
This dependency damages self-esteem, as time lost to online engagement triggers guilt and self-reproach for academic underperformance. Moreover, the fleeting gratification cycle creates emotional instability, leaving students prone to mood fluctuations and feelings of emptiness when offline.
Cognitive overload compounds these emotional effects. According to data from Scientific Reports (2025), persistent short-form video exposure saturates the brain’s attentional system, weakening cognitive control and leading to mental fatigue.
This neural strain reduces emotional regulation efficiency, leaving users feeling drained yet compulsively returning to the platform to restore stimulation.
Over time, the recursive loop of overuse, anxiety, and withdrawal solidifies a behavioral addiction that subtly erodes mental resilience, replacing calm focus with psychological turbulence and fatigue.
Social and Behavioral Effects
Excessive use of short video platforms significantly influences students’ social and behavioral patterns.
According to a 2024 Frontiers in Public Health study involving 388 college students, loneliness strongly correlates with short video addiction (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), with reduced real-life social support acting as a major mediator.
Students who feel socially isolated often substitute real interactions with online engagement, leading to dependency patterns and decreased face-to-face communication.
This replacement effect fosters emotional detachment and social withdrawal, gradually weakening interpersonal relationships and communication skills.
The content students consume also shapes their social perceptions. Researchers in Acta Psychologica (2025) found that students with severe short video addiction exhibited higher levels of depressive symptoms and poorer social adaptation, often influenced by repetitive exposure to curated, idealized lifestyles.
Such exposure amplifies comparison-based anxiety, body image pressures, and distorted cultural expectations—particularly among younger users seeking identity validation.
The constant stream of hyper-edited content contributes to self-doubt and emotional unease, as students unconsciously measure their realities against filtered digital norms.
Behaviorally, short video addiction manifests through compulsive checking, time distortion, and escapism.
The Computers in Human Behavior framework explained that short video platforms stimulate a habitual loop of reward-seeking behavior, leaving students unaware of how much time they spend scrolling.
Over time, this reinforces compulsive behavior, disrupts daily routines, and deepens reliance on digital gratification.
Consequently, short video overuse subtly reshapes social habits, replacing meaningful interaction with fleeting digital connections, breeding a culture of instant relief and gradual isolation.
Causes of Short Video Addiction
Short video addiction is not random—it is a calculated outcome of design, psychology, and environment.
According to a 2025 Frontiers in Human Neuroscience study, apps like TikTok and YouTube Shorts use algorithmic personalization and reward-based loops to sustain engagement, activating the brain’s dopamine system each time users scroll or receive a “like”.
The infinite scroll feature removes natural stopping cues, while variable reward systems create a slot-machine effect that keeps viewers seeking new stimulation. This design promotes compulsive checking and alters decision-making circuits, reinforcing addictive cycles.
On the psychological side, factors like boredom proneness and impulsivity are key predictors.
A 2025 Frontiers in Psychology study found that present-focused individuals—those seeking instant gratification—are more vulnerable to short video addiction (r=0.36,p<0.001). These users rely on short clips to escape negative moods or emotional discomfort, deepening the cycle of avoidance and self-soothing.
The fast-paced, emotionally charged nature of content further amplifies impulsive tendencies and distractibility.
Environmental pressures also play a critical role. Studies reveal that peer influence, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), and academic stress significantly drive consumption habits among college students.
Social circles normalize constant app engagement, while academic fatigue pushes students toward short videos as micro-doses of relaxation.
FOMO ensures they never log off, fearing they’ll miss trends or social validation moments.
In essence, short video addiction grows where technology exploits human psychology—turning boredom, impulsivity, and social pressure into fuel for constant digital engagement.
Possible Solutions and Preventive Strategies
Awareness Campaigns and Mindful Digital Use
One of the most effective strategies is digital well-being education. According to the International Journal of Education and Research (2024), awareness campaigns that teach students about the psychological hooks of short video platforms help them recognize addictive design and take control of their screen habits.
Incorporating mindfulness training and digital detox practices has been shown to reduce screen dependency by approximately 32% over eight weeks in intervention groups.
Mindfulness encourages students to pause, reflect, and manage the impulse to scroll endlessly, while detox breaks restore emotional balance and promote digital discipline.
Institutional Interventions and Policy Support
Universities can play a direct role in combating short video addiction. Research suggests scheduled study breaks, screen-time tracking, and academic counseling sessions improve students’ attention control and reduce digital fatigue.
Institutions that have implemented smartphone monitoring tools report up to a 25% drop in daily screen time among their participants.
Moreover, integrating proactive self-regulation programs rooted in long-term goal-setting enhances resistance to online distractions.
Encouraging Real-World and Physical Activities
A 2025 Public Health Research study found a significant negative correlation (r=−0.38,p<0.001) between physical activity and short video addiction.
Encouraging sports, creative hobbies, and volunteer activities shifts attention from screens to meaningful engagement, effectively acting as a protective buffer.
Participation in clubs, fitness programs, or group arts not only improves emotional stability but also strengthens social bonds, reducing the need for digital validation.
Family Involvement and Parental Guidance Tools
A 2025 Nature Mental Health report emphasizes that early parental involvement and guided self-regulation can significantly reduce the risk of short video addiction.
Platforms like TikTok have introduced Family Pairing and “Time Away” features that allow guardians to set personalized limits, restrict nighttime access, and monitor screen activity.
Studies show that adolescents under guided digital rules report up to a 28% reduction in daily app use and improved sleep patterns.
Tools such as Mobicip’s App Blocker also let families schedule access and disable short video features on YouTube or TikTok.
While designed for younger users, similar supervision principles can inspire college mentorship programs—faculty advisors or seniors helping peers track screen habits through collective accountability sessions.
Mental Health Interventions and Emotional Literacy Training
Beyond monitoring, emotional resilience-building is a powerful preventive measure. Research published in Psychology and Behavioral Management (2024) found that structured emotional literacy programs and stress-coping workshops help reduce boredom-driven and escapist screen use by 35% within 10 weeks.
These sessions train students to identify emotional triggers—like anxiety or loneliness—that prompt compulsive scrolling.
Universities integrating mental health literacy with positive psychology activities report greater self-control and social awareness among participants.
Teaching self-care techniques—journaling, meditation, and group therapy—empowers students to manage emotional fatigue without turning to short videos as an escape.
These multi-level strategies—awareness, institutional change, and active engagement—can help foster a culture of balanced digital living and reduce the grip of short video addiction among college students.
Conclusion
Short video addiction strongly impacts college students across academic, psychological, and social dimensions.
Research shows that excessive short video use reduces attentional control, increases procrastination, and directly correlates with academic anxiety and low engagement levels.
Psychologically, it amplifies stress, damages self-esteem, and fosters emotional dependence, while socially, overuse isolates individuals and diminishes real-world interaction.
These effects form a multidimensional cycle of distraction, fatigue, and reduced well-being.
The findings underline the urgent need for comprehensive prevention strategies.
Educational institutions should integrate both psychological interventions—such as mindfulness and emotional literacy—and structured programs for digital well-being.
Evidence-backed initiatives like screen-time tracking, academic counseling, and awareness campaigns can break compulsive habits while strengthening decision-making and focus.
The future research must explore long-term and cross-cultural impacts of short video addiction.
Studies comparing diverse learning environments could clarify cultural variations in vulnerability and coping patterns. Such global insights would help design holistic prevention models that combine education, mental health resources, and policy frameworks to counter this growing digital dependency effectively.