Childhood adversity may contribute to addiction to short-form videos

A recent study published in Computers in Human Behavior has revealed a possible link between negative childhood experiences and the risk of developing an addiction to short-form video platforms, such as TikTok. The study, conducted on a large sample of Chinese college students, found that adverse childhood experiences, including abuse and neglect, could increase a person’s susceptibility to this form of addiction.

Short-form video platforms are particularly popular among younger users, who are attracted to the fast-paced, highly engaging content. With their addictive features and algorithms that cater to individual preferences, these apps encourage prolonged usage. A significant portion of university students in China spend hours on these apps daily, sometimes even acknowledging that their video consumption has become a problem.

“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,” said study author Hai Huang, an associate professor of psychology at the China University of Geosciences.

“However, many individuals, especially young people, have developed an addiction to these platforms, leading to physical, psychological, and social dysfunctions. This prompted us to investigate the current state of short-form video addiction among Chinese college students.”

“Previous research has shown a link between adverse childhood experiences — a global public health concern — and internet addiction. We were particularly interested in exploring how adverse childhood experiences relate to addiction to new media, such as short-form videos. Therefore, our research primarily examines the association between adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction, while also exploring the potential mediating roles of resilience and life satisfaction in this relationship.”

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The research team collected data from 11,425 college students in Wuhan, China. This large sample included students with an average age of just over 20 years, balanced in terms of gender and academic backgrounds.

To assess participants’ childhood experiences, the researchers used a detailed survey that categorized these experiences into types such as neglect, abuse, family dysfunction, and exposure to violence outside the family. Each type of experience contributed to a participant’s overall score for adverse experiences.

Resilience was measured to gauge each participant’s ability to adapt and recover from stress. Life satisfaction was also assessed to understand how participants viewed their lives overall. Finally, the researchers measured short-form video addiction by adapting an established internet addiction questionnaire, which examined behaviors such as craving, withdrawal, and difficulties reducing usage.

The researchers found that students who reported more adverse childhood experiences — particularly neglect and abuse — were more likely to show signs of short-form video addiction. This association held even after adjusting for variables such as academic level and major. Those with five or more types of adverse childhood experiences had up to 4.7 times the risk of addiction compared to those without such experiences.

Furthermore, the study revealed that resilience and life satisfaction played important mediating roles. Specifically, students who had endured adverse childhood experiences tended to report lower levels of resilience and life satisfaction. These lower scores, in turn, were associated with higher rates of short-form video addiction.

Essentially, resilience and life satisfaction acted as buffers: higher levels of these factors appeared to protect students from relying excessively on short videos as a coping mechanism. When these buffers were low, students were more likely to turn to short videos for instant satisfaction, possibly as a way to cope with unresolved emotional distress from childhood.

“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.”

The study sheds light on how early trauma might drive some young people toward compulsive use of short-form video platforms. However, the study was cross-sectional, meaning it only captured a snapshot in time. Therefore, while it shows strong associations between childhood trauma and video addiction, it does not prove that adverse childhood experiences cause video addiction.

To build on these findings, future research could take a longitudinal approach to observe how childhood experiences affect online behaviors over time. Additionally, expanding the study to include younger individuals and non-students might provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between childhood adversity and digital addiction.

The study, “Adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction: A serial mediation model of resilience and life satisfaction,” was authored by Jiao Xue, Hai Huang, Ziyu Guo, Jing Chen, and Wenting Feng.