Social media as an incubator of personality and behavioral psychopathology: Symptom and disorder authenticity or psychosomatic social contagion?
Open accessAbstract
There has been an increasing recognition among both medical and psychological professionals, as well as the public media, of a concerning trend for child and adolescent users of audiovisual-based, algorithmic social media platforms (e.g., TikTok) to present with or claim functional psychiatric impairment that is inconsistent with or distinct from classic psychiatric nosology. In this short communication, we provide a detailed historical overview of this transdiagnostic phenomenon and suggest a conceptual model to organize thinking and research examining it. We then discuss the implications of our suggested model for accurate assessment, diagnosis, and medical-psychiatric treatment. We believe there is an urgent need for focused empirical research investigation into this concerning phenomenon that is related to the broader research and discourse examining social media influences on mental health.
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TikTok was among the first social media platforms to create a customized feed sending audiovisual contents tailored to users based on preferences, interests, and current state of mind through its recommendation algorithm.
“Further, TikTok was among the first SM to create by itself a customized feed sending audiovisual contents tailored for users, based on their preferences, interests, and current state of mind [31], through the app’s recommendation algorithm [32].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [31]
Section 1, “Audiovisually immersive social media: TikTok,” says TikTok’s algorithm curates a personalized stream of audiovisual videos based on users’ preferences, interests, and current state of mind. It does not say TikTok was among the first social media platforms to offer such a feed. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTikTok mental health content has the potential to spark social contagion of symptoms of mental distress or self-diagnosed mental disorders among individuals particularly vulnerable to psychopathology.
“and such content has the potential spark off social contagion of symptoms of mental distress or even self-diagnosed mental disorders among individuals who are particularly vulnerable to psychopathology [31].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [31]
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- Authors
- Haltigan, J. D., Pringsheim, T. M., & Rajkumar, G.
- Affiliations
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Western University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Haltigan, John D.
- Venue
- Comprehensive Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-02
- Volume
- 121
- Pages
- 152362
- ISSN
- 0010-440X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4312204614
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 8
- FWCI
- 25.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Comprehensive Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- social media, transdiagnostic psychopathology, child and adolescent mental health, TikTok, psychiatric diagnosis, conceptual model
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Humans, Incubators, Mental Health, Personality, Personality Disorders, Social Media
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