Joint Profiles and Dimension-Level Networks of Parental Psychological Control and Problematic Short-Video Use Among Chinese Adolescents

Problematic short-video use (PSVU) is a pervasive public health concern among adolescents, yet its relationship with parental psychological control has typically been examined through variable-centered approaches that treat this relationship as uniform and combine paternal and maternal control. The present study therefore examined joint configurations of paternal and maternal psychological control and PSVU, along with their dimension-level interrelations. Using a two-stage design, latent profile and psychometric network analyses were applied to 2634 Chinese adolescents. Subgroups were first identified based on paternal psychological control, maternal psychological control, and PSVU; dimension-level network structures were then compared across profiles to examine differences in the associations between parental control and PSVU dimensions. The results revealed four distinct profiles: a High-Control/High-Dependence profile, a High-Control/Low-Dependence profile, a Low-Control/Low-Dependence profile, and an Average-Control/Moderate-Dependence profile. The high-control, low-dependence profile reported higher control but significantly lower PSVU. Network comparisons indicated that the high-control, high-dependence profile exhibited significantly stronger global network connectivity than the high-control, low-dependence profile, whereas direct bridge pathways linking parental control to PSVU dimensions did not differ significantly between the two profiles. These findings suggest that the parental control–PSVU relationship is neither uniform nor direct, underscoring the value of integrating person-centered and network approaches.