SynthesisJournal of primary care & community health
Exploring Problematic TikTok Use and Mental Health Issues: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies.
Synthesis in Journal of primary care & community health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mediating Effect of Perceived Ageism Experiences Between TikTok Addiction Symptoms and Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Digital Behavior Change Interventions for Digital Overuse: Scoping Review of Current Approaches and Emerging AI-Enabled Systems.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- The Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Attention Networks in University Students with Problematic Short-Video Use.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Associations and Potential Pathways Linking Excessive Short-Video Use to Mental Health Among Vocational High School Students in China: An Integrated Analysis Based on Machine Learning and Path Analysis.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The effect of problematic short-video use on attention networks among college students.Cognitive processing · 2026Article
- Scroll, Learn, Replace: Evaluating TikTok's Role in Patient Education in Total Knee Arthroplasty.Arthroplasty today · 2026Article
- Perceived Time Spent on TikTok, Overall User Satisfaction, and Parallel Psychological Costs.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Emotional and Psychosocial Correlates of Problematic Social Media Use Among Adults: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Unfiltered Access, Unseen Harms: A Developmental and Public Health Critique of Digital Rights Discourse.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Heterogeneity in Short Video Addiction and Its Association with Inattention and Negative Emotions Among College Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Mental health and depression as mediators between social media use screen time and academic integrity among tertiary students in Ghana.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Fragmented learning from short videos modulates neural activity and connectivity during memory retrieval.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- Psychometric validation of the English version of the digital wellbeing questionnaire for young adults.PloS one · 2026Article
- "You Say Cognitive, I Say Cognitive": Can Misinformation-Informed Interventions Help Reduce Risk for Disordered Eating in Youth?The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Boredom proneness and short-video addiction among Chinese vocational college students: psychological resilience as a mediator and gender as a moderator.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The Psychometric Validity of the TikTok Addiction Scale Turkish Version: The Relationship between TikTok Addiction, Stress, and Personality.Sisli Etfal Hastanesi tip bulteni · 2026Article
- The Impact of Social Media on Health Behaviors, a Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Relationship Between Problematic TikTok Use and Depression in University Students: The Mediating Role of Insomnia.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Linking Smart-Phone Addiction to Self-Concept Clarity Among Chinese College Students: The Chain Mediation Roles of Social Anxiety and Social Withdrawal.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince its launch in 2017, TikTok has rapidly emerged as a major player in the digital landscape, amassing over a billion active users. Its engaging features have raised concerns about potential problematic use and negative mental health outcomes. Despite increasing scholarly attention, a consolidated understanding of TikTok's problematic use potential and implications remains elusive This systematic review synthesizes empirical research on problematic TikTok use and its impact on mental health.
methodsThis review followed PRISMA Statement 2020 guidelines and conducted a comprehensive search across PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases until July 10, 2024. Keywords included terms related to TikTok use, addiction, and problematic use. Studies were included based on empirical focus and publication in peer-reviewed journals. Data extraction comprised study characteristics, measures of TikTok problematic use, and related mental health outcomes. Quality assessment used JBI, Cochrane's RoB 2, MMAT, CASP, and NOS tools. The protocol was registered in OSF: https://osf.io/cjf97.
resultsThis review included 26 studies, involving a total of 11 462 participants. The pooled prevalence of TikTok use was estimated at 80.19%, with the highest rates observed among people aged 18 to 29 years, where it reached 85.4%. Frequent use of TikTok was closely linked with an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression, especially in users aged under 24 years. Female users were more likely to experience problematic TikTok use, with 67.3% of such cases found among female university students. Moreover, higher addiction scores were noted among individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and those who had higher levels of neuroticism.
conclusionThe findings of this review highlight the growing concern surrounding the impact of problematic TikTok use on mental health, particularly among younger and more vulnerable populations. It is imperative for stakeholders to prioritize the integration of digital literacy and media literacy into educational curricula. Moreover, the involvement of caregivers through guided mediation and the establishment of clear usage parameters could play a crucial role in managing screen time, particularly for younger users. To improve the current landscape of empirical research, longitudinal and interventional research is warranted.
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