Cross-sectional study finds TikTok addiction tied to elevated anxiety, depression, and ADHD symptoms in adults, suggesting an urgent need for healthier social media engagement.
Background The use of the TikTok application is increasing rapidly, which may affect mental health. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of TikTok addiction and its association with anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD among adults. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and measure TikTok addiction, anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using validated previously published screening tools: the TikTok Addiction Test (TAT), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-5 (ASRS-5), respectively. Results A total of 411 adults were included. Most of them were females (67.9%) and university graduates (74.4%). The overall prevalence of TikTok addiction was 18.5%. Addiction was significantly higher among the younger age group (18–25 years) p = 0.008. Furthermore, TikTok addiction showed a strong and significant association with anxiety, depression, and ADHD ( p < 0.001 for all) after controlling for the confounders (gender, age and educational level) in multivariate logistic regression models. Conclusion TikTok addiction was prevalent among adults, particularly younger adults, and was significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Raising awareness about healthy and safe social media use is recommended.
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Alotaibi et al. (2026) studied this question.
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