ADHD Misinformation Is Common on TikTok. Here\u2019s How to Spot It<\/p>\n
With limited access to mental health care, people looking for answers about ADHD are turning to TikTok, where information is frequently misleading or inaccurate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
By Allison Parshall<\/a> edited by Dean Visser<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n mihailomilovanovic\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n On TikTok<\/a>, videos about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) abound; it is consistently one of the most popular health-related topics on the app. People often share relatable content about their own experiences with the condition, and many adults report learning they had ADHD by watching these videos.<\/p>\n But misinformation about ADHD<\/a> is also common, a group of psychology researchers reported on Wednesday in PLOS ONE.<\/i> In the 100 most popular TikTok videos about the topic at the time of this study, only half of claims about symptoms<\/a> reflected the core diagnostic criteria of ADHD, according to evaluations made by two clinical psychologists . The other half of the claims were largely overgeneralized, misleading or inaccurate<\/a> but were often presented with confidence and without nuance.<\/p>\n The findings don\u2019t mean these videos are intentionally misleading or even entirely unhelpful, but the researchers emphasize the need for caution in interpreting and internalizing them.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n \u201cThese videos have an incredible reach and are very popular,\u201d says the new study\u2019s lead author Vasileia Karasavva, a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at the University of British Columbia. \u201cWhat I think our study tapped into is that people are struggling, and people are trying to understand themselves better\u201d in the context of ADHD, she says. But getting support through the mental health care system is onerous and expensive, she notes\u2014and this drives people to seek information on social media, where it can be difficult to assess whether what they\u2019re learning is supported by clinical experience and research.<\/p>\n Karasavva and her colleagues evaluated the top 100 videos under TikTok\u2019s #ADHD tag on January 10, 2023. The study co-authors, including two psychologists with at least 20 years of experience in diagnosing and treating ADHD, then evaluated the videos\u2019 many claims about symptoms and treatment. The researchers found that 55.6 percent of claims about ADHD treatments weren\u2019t empirically supported and that 51.3 percent of claims about symptoms did not reflect a core diagnostic ADHD symptom as specified by the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders <\/i>(DSM-5<\/i>).<\/i><\/p>\n Of those noncore symptom claims, only 5.6 percent referred to issues that are associated with ADHD, such as working memory problems, based on empirical research. Most referred to symptoms that are associated with other conditions\u2014or, in the case of 68.5 percent of these claims, that are more reflective of what the study\u2019s clinicians deemed \u201cnormal human experience.\u201d For example, frequently bumping into furniture, listening to the same songs over and over or having a sweet tooth were commonly presented as indications of ADHD in the videos. But they are not, Karasavva points out.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can sometimes find a grain of truth\u201d in these associations, says Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces, a psychologist at Indiana University Bloomington, who studies online misinformation but was not involved in the new paper. But these often \u201cloose connections,\u201d which are typically based on people\u2019s personal experiences, can be overgeneralized. Misinformation research shows that people are more likely to believe claims to which they are repeatedly exposed\u2014whether they trust the source at the time or not\u2014he adds.<\/p>\n![\"Young](\"https:\/\/static.scientificamerican.com\/dam\/m\/684ec74a85defcf1\/original\/young-woman-holding-smartphone.jpg?m=1742397974.854&w=600\")
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