The Imbalance Between Goal-Directed and Habitual Systems in Problematic Short-Form Video Users

Problematic short-form video use (PSVU) has been a concern for the public. However, it is unclear whether there is an imbalance between goal-directed and habitual action control systems in problematic short-form video users (PSVUs). This study recruited 30 PSVUs (20 females, 10 males; 20.50 ± 1.76 years old) and 28 healthy controls (19 females, 9 males; 20.29 ± 2.21 years old) to investigate the effect of PSVU on the imbalance of the dual system. The contingency degradation paradigm and go/no-go task were applied. Compared to controls, PSVUs exhibited a stubborn ratio score during task structure transitions and a lower accuracy rate in no-go trials. Moreover, the accuracy rate fully mediated the relationship between the frequency of short-form video use and ratio scores, highlighting such imbalance in PSVUs, along with inhibitory control deficits as a mediator. The findings indicated PSVUs’ insensitivity to task structure transition, and the inhibitory control deficits might exacerbate the habitual behavior, contributing to a better understanding of PSVUs from a dual system perspective.