A friend recently asked me to compile a list of academic studies that show the potential harms of TikTok and other short-form video (SFV) platforms.

Unfortunately, many people are still oblivious to the potential downsides of heavy short-form video use—especially for attention, self-regulation, and mental well-being. While public warnings are sometimes dismissed as overblown, a growing research literature reports consistent associations between frequent short-form video use (or problematic use) and worse cognitive and mental-health outcomes. Much of this evidence is correlational, so causality cannot be assumed, but the patterns are concerning enough to take seriously.

Cognitive Impairments

Sustained Attention Deficits

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis covering 71 studies and over 98,000 participants found a moderate negative correlation between SFV engagement and cognitive performance. The strongest negative associations were with attention and inhibitory control.

Nguyen, L., et al. (2025). “Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use.” Psychological Bulletin, 151(9), 1125-1146.

Link: PubMed

Reduced Working Memory

An EEG study measuring brain activation during short-video application use found that neural measures associated with problematic short-video application use were negatively associated with adolescents’ working memory. The authors noted that problematic short-video application use did not show a significant negative relationship with cognitive control.

Xu, Z., Liu, X., Chen, J., & Zhang, Y. (2024). “Neural Correlates of Short-Video Application Addiction and Adolescents’ Executive Functions.” Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS).

Link: ISLS repository

Attention as a Mediator

A cross-sectional survey study of 1,029 university students found that higher short-form video addiction scores were associated with poorer self-reported memory function. Diminished attention partially mediated the relationship between short-form video addiction and memory function.

Al-Leimon, S., et al. (2025). “Reels to Remembrance: Attention Partially Mediates the Relationship Between Short-Form Video Addiction and Memory Function Among Youth.” Healthcare (Basel), 13(3), 252. [doi:10.3390/healthcare13030252]

Link: PMC full text

Neurological Impact and the Dopamine Loop

Researchers are increasingly studying how highly engaging, algorithmically curated feeds relate to attention, self-regulation, and reward-related processing. However, direct causal evidence for “neural pathway changes” specific to short-form video platforms is still limited.

Dopamine-Driven Addiction Loops and Altered Brain Connectivity

A scoping review on internet addiction (broadly, not specific to short-form video use) summarizes evidence of differences in Default Mode Network (DMN) connectivity reported across studies. Some work reports increased resting-state connectivity in regions such as the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and difficulty suppressing the DMN during tasks. These findings are often discussed in relation to self-regulation, but they should not be treated as proof of a specific mechanism for short-form video addiction.

Jin, W., Chai, W., Wu, J., Chen, H., & Ding, M. (2026). “The neurobiology of internet addiction: a scoping review of developmental and gender-specific mechanisms.” Frontiers in Psychology. [doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1729470]

Mental Health and Behavioral Harms

Anxiety and Depression

The same large-scale 2025 meta-analysis (71 studies) reported that frequent SFV use is associated with higher symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. The fast-paced, emotionally charged nature of the content is associated with emotional dysregulation. However, the review noted an important caveat: it is highly plausible that individuals with pre-existing anxiety or depression may turn to SFVs as a coping mechanism, meaning strict causality is not fully established.

Nguyen, L., et al. (2025). “Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use.” Psychological Bulletin, 151(9), 1125-1146.

Link: PubMed

The “Lying Flat” Tendency

A study of Chinese university students reported an association between higher short-video addiction scores and stronger endorsement of the “lying flat” tendency. As with most survey-based work in this area, the result is correlational and does not establish that short-video use causes apathy or disengagement.

Xu, J., et al. (2026). “Scrolling to apathy? The relationship between short video addiction and the ‘lying flat’ tendency among Chinese university students.” Frontiers in Psychology. [doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1685559]

The Bottom Line

Evidence from meta-analyses and cross-sectional studies suggests that heavier short-form video use (and especially problematic use) is associated with poorer attention and working memory outcomes and with higher anxiety/depression symptoms. However, much of the literature is correlational, so the direction of causality and the underlying mechanisms remain active research questions. Regardless, algorithmic feeds are optimized for engagement, which may be misaligned with well-being for some users—particularly with high daily use.