Addicted to TikToks and Instagram Reels? It might say something about your childhood

The rampant addiction to short-form-video content like TikTok and Instagram Reels in young adults may have its origin in their turbulent childhood backgrounds.

Short-form video content like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, has taken over as a major form of entertainment for young adults. The attraction to this type of content is dangerous. It gradually starts by getting short boosts of dopamine, the happy hormone, from the short-duration content, but soon it becomes an unhealthy addiction. The short-form content ranges anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute or so. Conventionally, the attraction towards this type of content is primarily considered due to the short attention span.

The instant gratification of the short-duration content makes it an easy distraction. (Pexels)

But, there are more psychological reasons at play here. A study published in Computers in Human Behavior pinpointed the role of negative childhood experiences that shape this kind of addiction. It may be inconspicuous, but inherently the childhood interactions pull the strings.

A form of escape

Short-form-video content become a safe space to distract vulnerable thoughts and emotion at the face of adversity in their homes. (Pexels)

The researchers conducted a large survey of Chinese University students and found that there’s an increased risk of young adults being addicted to short-form content videos when they have adverse childhood experiences, instilling a deep sense of trauma in them.

The negative childhood experience can be in the form of mental or physical abuse, complete neglect, dysfunctional family dynamics with regular conflicts, instances of violence against other family members, and so on. This shows that what started as mere comfort to distract from the family troubles goes on to become a full-fledged addiction.

And since this type of content is incredibly short, the mind stays distracted and temporarily diverted. The fast-paced nature of these videos helps in not focusing on the emotional distress arising from all the family troubles around them. It's a temporary relief that assists the children in managing their overwhelming feelings. It's when they simply ignore the problems and giggle away with the quick entertainment, not knowing the unhealthy addiction it's building.

Life satisfaction as a shield

Those college students among the participants who reported higher life satisfaction even with childhood issues, were less addicted to the short-form-video content. The positive outlook and resilience diminished the strong need to rely on instant gratification from the short-form video content. The researchers found that those who had lower life satisfaction were more addicted.

So consuming short-form-video content became a form of coping mechanism to stay away from everything that’s triggering them in their homes. And soon the reliance on short-form video content like Reels and TikTok to cope with trauma became so desperate that before they realized it, it turned into an addiction. The researchers called for early intervention in childhood to make sure children have a safe and emotionally protected environment.