Tiktok's ADHD video can be misleading, Study finds

New research shows that finding false information about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be difficult.

the studyreleased on the Journal Plos One on Wednesday, with less than 50% of claims made in some of Tiktok's most popular ADHD videos providing information that matches the diagnostic criteria for the disorder or specialist treatment recommendations. And the researchers found that even participants who had already been diagnosed with ADHD struggled to identify which information is most reliable.

Approximately half of the Tiktok creators included in this study used the platform to sell products such as fidget spinners and services such as coaching. None of them were licensed mental health professionals.

The lack of nuance is concerning, said PhD, Vasileia Karasavva. Students cLead author of Systematic Psychology and Research at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. When Tiktok creators talk about difficulty in concentration, she added that they usually do not state that the symptoms are not specific to ADHD, or that they may be manifestations of different mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.

“The last thing we want to do is to discourage people from expressing how they feel, what they are going through, and what they are finding their community online,” Karasahva said. “At the same time, you may self-diagnose with something that doesn't apply to you, and then you may not get the help you actually need.”

Karasavva's results reflect that Research in 2022 It also analyzed 100 popular tiktok videos on ADHD and found that half of them are misleading.

“The data is amazing,” said Stephen P. Hinshaw, a psychology professor and ADHD expert at the University of California, Berkeley. The video's theme may easily resonate with viewers, he added, but “an accurate diagnosis takes access, time and money.”

In Karasavva's study, the researchers began by selecting the 100 most viewed videos of the January 1st, 2023, and asked two licensed clinical psychologists to review each video. Psychologists were called to assess whether the video accurately captured the symptoms of ADHD in adults or adolescents, characterized in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

If the video claims did not match the manual, psychologists have established whether the video symptoms better reflect different types of disorders or whether people with ADHD may experience them. Finally, they rated on a scale of 1 to 5 whether they recommend videos that would help educate others about ADHD

One limitation of this study was that it did not rely on a large panel of experts to evaluate the video.

The researchers then asked over 840 undergraduate students to evaluate the video using the same scale used by psychologists. Study participants, who were the most frequent consumers of ADHD-related Tiktok content, were more likely to recommend five most reputable videos than other participants. However, they were also likely to recommend the bottom five videos. And it was true whether they were diagnosed with ADHD or not.

Karasavva said this could be because Tiktok's algorithm provides videos similar to videos people have already seen.

“In the end, you may come to believe in things that don't really match science,” she said.

In particular, research students also very overestimated how many people actually have ADHD.

Information about Tiktok “is not always telling a complete story and could lead to the loudest voice that is overrated,” said Margaret Sibley, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, who was not involved in the research. “People may not identify which aspects of their experience are ADHD and anything else.”