Research on Adolescents Regarding the Indirect Effect of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress between TikTok Use Disorder and Memory Loss

Abstract

This research involved the participation of 3036 Chinese students in the first and second years of senior high school. The adolescents were active users of TikTok. The mediating effect of depression, anxiety, and stress between TikTok use disorder and memory loss was investigated. A forward and backward digit span test was applied to measure memory loss. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was established, and SPSS Amos was used for analysis. The results show a partial mediation effect of depression and anxiety between TikTok use disorder and forward digit span. A partial mediation effect of depression, anxiety, and stress between TikTok use disorder and backward digit span is also shown. These results also show gender differences. Attention should be given to male students, who have more depression, anxiety, and stress than female students; they also have more memory loss.

Association between WeChat Use and Memory Performance among Older Adults in China: The Mediating Role of Depression

“…This finding confirmed our hypothesis: namely, that the older adults who used WeChat were at lower risk of depression, which, in turn, was beneficial in increasing their memory performance. This finding was consistent with previous studies [ 50 , 76 ]. For example, through an investigation of 3036 senior high school students in China, Sha and Dong analyzed the association between TikTok use and memory loss, and they found that depression partially mediated the relationship [ 50 ].…”

“…This finding was consistent with previous studies [ 50 , 76 ]. For example, through an investigation of 3036 senior high school students in China, Sha and Dong analyzed the association between TikTok use and memory loss, and they found that depression partially mediated the relationship [ 50 ]. Through investigating older adults in China, this study adds new empirical evidence to the mediating effect of depression between social media use and memory performance.…”

“…Therefore, research has linked the use of social media to a lower risk of depression, and meanwhile, a lower risk of depression has been found to be related to higher levels of memory performance. In addition, some studies reported that certain emotional variables might mediate the relationship between social media usage and memory performance [ 50 , 51 ]. For example, a daily dairy study conducted by Sharifian and Zahodne found that negative affect served as a significant mediator between social media use and memory performance [ 51 ].…”

Deconstructing TikTok Videos on Mental Health: Cross-sectional, Descriptive Content Analysis

“…With over 1 billion cumulative views, almost half of the assessed TikTok videos included in this study reported or expressed symptoms of mental distress. Other studies have observed the expression of mental ill-health within online social media platforms [ 31 ] and expressed concern about potentially traumatic and “triggering” TikTok videos as being detrimental to some viewers [ 32 ]. This is especially concerning given the frequency of screen time among adolescents.…”

“…This is especially concerning given the frequency of screen time among adolescents. Many adolescents are predominant TikTok participants, and there is a potential for contribution to poor mental health outcomes from repetitious and prolonged viewing, especially if traumatic events are featured in the videos [ 32 ]. Recently, TikTok has acknowledged the substantial impact of their platform on users’ mental health and have provided additional resources in support of user safety, health, and mental wellness [ 33 ].…”