Guided by self-determination theory, this study investigated the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and short video addiction as well as their associations with mental health symptoms among Chinese firefighters during the organizational restructuring period (2018–2023). Utilizing a cross-sectional design with data from 3657 firefighters, LV-SEM was conducted. The findings revealed that both insomnia and short video addiction were directly associated with mental health symptoms and were associated with mental health symptoms through a chain mediation involving perceived social support and flourishing. Network analysis also demonstrated significant positive associations between insomnia and short video addiction, as well as between perceived social support and flourishing, with insomnia showing a stronger association with mental health symptoms. These results provide important implications for developing mental health interventions for firefighters, suggesting that priority be given to regulating short video use, enhancing social support, promoting flourishing, and improving sleep quality to comprehensively improve firefighters’ mental health.
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