Childhood trauma could increase the risk of addiction to short-form videos

Research suggests a possible link between negative childhood experiences and the risk of becoming addicted to short-form video content. — AFP Relaxnews

Short-form videos, like those typically found on TikTok, have become a worldwide phenomenon, captivating millions of young users. Now, researchers suggest that childhood trauma could drive some of them towards excessive or compulsive use of this kind of content. Their study is published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

"We became interested in this topic due to the rapid growth in active users of short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Douyin globally in recent years. In China, short video users now account for 96.4% of the overall internet population," study author Hai Huang, an associate professor of psychology at the China University of Geosciences, told PsyPost.