Deconstructing TikTok Videos on Mental Health: Cross-sectional, Descriptive Content Analysis
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Abstract
Background: Social media platforms that are based on the creation of visual media, such as TikTok, are increasingly popular with adolescents. Online social media networks provide valuable opportunities to connect with each other to share experiences and strategies for health and wellness. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the content of the hashtag #mentalhealth on TikTok. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive content analysis study included 100 videos with the hashtag #mentalhealth on TikTok. All videos that included the hashtag #mentalhealth were analyzed and coded for the presence of content categories. Additionally, the comments to each video were viewed and coded for content in the following themes: offering support or validation; mentioning experience with suicide or suicidal ideation; mentioning experience with self-harm; describing an experience with hospitalization for mental health issues; describing other mental health issues; and sharing coping strategies, experiences of healing, or ways to feel better. Results: Collectively, the 100 videos studied received 1,354,100,000 views; 266,900,000 likes; and 2,515,954 comments. On average, each video received 13,406,930.69 (SD 8,728,095.52) views; 2,657,425.74 (SD 1,449,920.45) likes; and 24,910.44 (SD 21,035.06) comments. The only content category observed in most (51/100, 51%) of the videos included in the sample was “general mental health.” The remaining content categories appeared in less than 50% of the sample. In total, 32% (32/100) of the videos sampled received more than the overall average number of likes (ie, more that 2.67 million likes). Among these 32 videos, 23 (72%) included comments offering support or validation and 20 (62%) included comments that described other mental health issues or struggles. Conclusions: With over 1 billion cumulative views, almost half of the assessed TikTok videos included in this study reported or expressed symptoms of mental distress. Future research should focus on the potential role of intervention by health care professionals on social media.
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Over recent years, TikTok has exhibited a surge in contents regarding mental illness, body positivity, neurodiversity, and gender identity.
“Over recent years, TikTok has exhibited a surge in contents regarding mental illness, body positivity, neurodiversity, and gender identity [38, 39].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [38]
The Results and Discussion (Principal Findings; no page given) document widely viewed TikTok videos about mental distress, supporting the mental-health-content portion. The paper does not establish a surge over recent years or document TikTok content about body positivity and neurodiversity. Its Introduction mentions gender identity as a topic adolescents seek across online sources, not specifically as a growing category of TikTok content. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 32 · Cited by 126
- Authors
- Basch, C. H., Donelle, L., Fera, J., & Jaime, C.
- Affiliations
- William Paterson University (US)
- Western University (CA)
- Lehman College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Basch, Corey H
- Venue
- JMIR Formative Research
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2022-05-19
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e38340
- ISSN
- 2561-326X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9164092
- OpenAlex
- W4280532034
- Cited by
- 126
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 31.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR Formative Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Keywords
- TikTok, mental health, social media, adolescents, hashtags, online support, suicidal ideation, self-harm, coping strategies, mental health stigma, video comments
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