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.
The study, titled "Adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction: A serial mediation model of resilience and life satisfaction," reveals that traumatic experiences, such as abuse and neglect, could increase susceptibility to this form of addiction. In other words, individuals who have experienced childhood trauma could be more likely to develop an addiction to short-form videos. These findings underline the importance of taking childhood experiences into account to better understand and prevent addictive behaviour in young people.
Short-form video platforms, with their addictive algorithms and personalized content, encourage prolonged use, sometimes to the detriment of their users' physical and mental health.
The research team collected data from 11,425 students in Wuhan, China. The participants, with an average age of 20, were asked about their childhood experiences, resilience, life satisfaction and level of addiction to short-form videos. Childhood experiences were categorized into various types such as neglect, abuse, a dysfunctional family and exposure to violence.
An endorphin hit for instant gratification
The results are alarming: students who reported more negative childhood experiences, particularly neglect and abuse, were more likely to show signs of addiction to short-form videos. Those with five or more types of negative experiences were up to 4.7 times more likely to develop this kind of addiction compared to those with no such experiences.
The study also shines light on how resilience and life satisfaction can weigh in the balance. Students with negative experiences tended to have lower levels of resilience and life satisfaction, which in turn was associated with higher rates of addiction to short-form videos.
In other words, resilience and life satisfaction appear to play a protective role.
High levels of these factors help students avoid excessive or compulsive use of short-form videos. On the other hand, when these factors are low, students are more likely to use short-form videos for immediate gratification, potentially to deal with unresolved emotional distress from their childhood, the study explains.
"From our findings, people can understand that adverse childhood experiences serve as a significant risk factor for short-form video addiction," Huang told PsyPost.
"Specifically, adverse childhood experiences characterized by violence, abuse, and neglect have a stronger impact compared to other types of adverse childhood experiences. Interventions focusing on the early prevention of adverse childhood experiences, along with promoting resilience and life satisfaction, may prove beneficial in preventing short-form video addiction among young people."
While the study suggests a possible link between childhood trauma and addiction to short-form video content, it does have its limitations. To better understand this phenomenon, the researchers propose that future research should follow individuals over a longer period of time.
Moreover, including young people and non-students in the research could also provide a more comprehensive overview of the association they observed. – AFP Relaxnews
