TikTok addiction caused by distress, not boredom, study finds

TikTok addiction is driven more by the need to escape the stresses of real life than boredom, according to a new study.

Surveying 822 regular users of the social media platform in China, a team of researchers found that distress intolerance was a significant factor in problematic TikTok use, not boredom proneness.

TikTok has surged in popularity since the pandemic, and now boasts more than a billion monthly active users. The app offers users the ability to watch, share and comment on short videos. However, the app and its parent company ByteDance have been at the centre of numerous controversies relating to user safety and security.

Concern over ‘problematic social media use’ (PSMU) is not exclusive to TikTok.

Writing in the journal Computers In Human Behaviour, the authors define PSMU as ‘addiction-like symptoms, such as loss of control over social media use, psychological withdrawal without access to social media, craving for use, and usage despite consequent disturbance in daily life’.

The team recruited a sample of regular users through an online survey, taking two assessments two months apart. Participants’ depression and social anxiety symptoms, boredom proneness, and distress intolerance assessed during the first survey were used as predictors of the severity of problematic TikTok use at the time of the second.

The results showed stress intolerance was a significant factor in those displaying problematic TikTok use. Boredom proneness was not.

The team concluded that depression and social anxiety negatively affect emotional processing, causing a perceived inability to withstand distress. Internet use is seen as a coping mechanism to deal with this, leading to problematic use – and in this case, on TikTok.

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