TikTok’s Sick-Role Subculture and What to Do About It
Abstract
TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to incorporate music, text, and other special effects into short videos. The app has approximately 30 million monthly users in the United States alone, and was the most downloaded app globally in 2020, with 850 million downloads.1 Like many popular social media platforms, use is heavily skewed toward youth, with one estimate reporting 62% of all users being between the ages of 10 and 29 years.2 TikTok has carved out a niche where youth can virtually congregate to poke fun at shared experiences from within their own homes, with ordinary backgrounds such as their living rooms, rather than heavily idealized lifestyles seen on other social media platforms. As such, youth are more relatable when they produce personal performances from their homes, ranging from lip syncing and complex dance routines, to videos discussing more serious topics, such as personal struggles with mental health conditions.
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TikTok has distinctive features that may specifically have significant implications for adolescent users.
“TikTok stands out for some distinctive features that may specifically have significant implications for adolescent users [29, 30].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
This issue is increasingly observed in youth seeking psychiatric care.
“This issue is increasingly observed in youth seeking psychiatric care [29, 45, 46].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
TikTok has lately received increasing research scrutiny as a potential 'spread vector' for mental illness symptoms and disorders.
“TikTok has lately received increasing research scrutiny as a potential ‘spread vector’ for mental illness symptoms and disorders [29, 104].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
Cites
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Secret Society 123: Understanding the Language of Self-Harm on Instagram
Moreno, M. A., Ton, A., Selkie, E., & Evans, Y. (2016) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.09.015 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Literat, I. (2021) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/2332858421995537 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
COVID-19 related increase in childhood tics and tic-like attacks
Heyman, I., Liang, H., & Hedderly, T. J. (2021) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/archdischild-2021-321748 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Ethical Considerations in Pediatricians’ Use of Social Media
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Social Media: Anticipatory Guidance
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Deconstructing TikTok Videos on Mental Health: Cross-sectional, Descriptive Content Analysis
Basch, C. H., Donelle, L., Fera, J., & Jaime, C. (2022) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/38340 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Haltigan, J. D., Pringsheim, T. M., & Rajkumar, G. (2023) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2022.152362 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Conte, G., Iorio, G. D., Esposito, D., Romano, S., Panvino, F., Maggi, S., Altomonte, B., Casini, M. P., Ferrara, M., & Terrinoni, A. (2025) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-024-02581-w · Cited by 84 · see citing works
“This issue is increasingly observed in youth seeking psychiatric care [ 29 , 45, 46].”
Influential
- Authors
- Harness, J., & Getzen, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Venue
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 351-353
- ISSN
- 0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3199946504
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- New York University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Keywords
- TikTok, youth mental health, social media, self-presentation, mental health stigma, online communities
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Child, Humans, Videotape Recording, Young Adult, Social Media
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