 This study examines the mediating role of SNS addiction between SNS use patterns and mental health status among Chinese university students in Hong Kong, HK. The results show that a longer time spent on SNSs per day, a longer time spent on each SNS access, a higher frequency of SNS access, a longer duration of SNS use before sleeping, and a shorter duration from waking to first SNS use are significantly associated with a higher level of SNS addiction. Structural equation modeling, SEM, shows that SNS addiction mediates the associations between SNS use, psychosocial status, and mental health status, including an indirect effect, beta equals 0.63, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.93, and the total effect, beta equals 0.44, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.72, while the direct effect is insignificant, beta equals 0.19, 95% CI minus 0.49 to 0.08. The findings suggest that screening for an addressing excessive SNS use are needed to prevent SNS addiction and mental distress among young people. This article was authored by Tingxian Wang, Janet Y. H. Wang, Manping Wang, and others. We are article.tv, links in the description below.