Too much TikTok may affect brains of kids and teens

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March 16, 2025 | 12:00am

Too much time spent watching quick video content may lead to digital addiction, a new study in China suggests.

Called short video addiction (SVA), it is a growing behavioral and social issue, driven by the widespread use of digital platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels that provide highly engaging, personalized, and brief video content, according to a study conducted at Tianjin Normal University, China, and published Feb. 15, 2025, in the journal NeuroImage.

SVA is characterized by the compulsive and uncontrolled use of short-video platforms, where users excessively consume personalized content to the extent that it negatively interferes with other activities, says lead researcher Yuanyuan Gao of the Faculty of Psychology at Tianjin Normal University.

As a form of behavioral disorder, SVA has been linked to a host of adverse physical and psychological consequences, including sleep disturbances, visual impairments, cervical spinal injuries, cognitive deficits related to reward processing, attention, learning, and memory, and emotional disturbances, including depression, anxiety and stress, she says.

“Prolonged engagement with short video platforms, which provide immediate satisfaction, may gradually impair self-control, contribute to emotional dysregulation, reduce visual acuity, induce physical discomfort, and ultimately diminish long-term well-being. This cycle could, in turn, facilitate the development of addictive behavior patterns.”

Short video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels have experienced immense user growth and gained notable market share in recent years, Gao says.

In China alone, the number of short video users — including teens and “golden agers,” or seniors — surpassed one billion, accounting for over 95 percent of the total internet user population, according to a statistical report on China's internet development published in 2024.

According to the study, adolescence emerges as a critical phase, marked by addiction-related gene expressions, especially in the cerebellum, the “little brain” of the central nervous system that plays a crucial role in motor control, coordination, precision, timing of movements and motor learning.

“Like other behavioral addictions, SVA is associated with heightened reward responses,” she adds, pointing out that when users watch short videos they like, the reward circuitry is activated.

A total of 112 college students participated in the study. No participant reported any history of neurological or psychiatric issues.Whole-brain imaging data were obtained at the Center for MRI Research of Tianjin Normal University.