TikTok videos mental health terms U.S. Kenya 2023| Statista

Research of 540 videos on TikTok suggested to 13-year-olds in the United States and Kenya conducted between June and July 2023, found that 60 percent of posts that glamorized, romanticized or trivialized depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide (including through drawings, comics, use of music and captions), contained terms from a broad list of mental health-related terms. Furthermore, same percentage of posts that mentioned plans to self-harm or die by suicide or explained how to self-harm or die by suicide or otherwise encouraged self-harm or suicide had similar terms in captions and videos.

Share of videos on TikTok with broad mental health terms suggested to teenage accounts in the United States and Kenya as of July 2023

Characteristic	Share of videos
Not relevant	11.2%
Lived experience post speaking about anxiety, depression and self-harm (without romanticizing it)	44.1%
Post showing people in emotional distress	39.1%
Post portraying feelings of loneliness or inadequacy as helpless and/or deserved	37.5%
Post intended to portray self-harm, depression and suicidal thoughts as inescapable	75%
Dramatic description of trauma, suffering and suicide	59.1%
Traumatizing imagery	-
Post that glamorizes, romanticizes or trivializes depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide (including through drawings, comics, use of music and captions)	60%
Post conveying mental health-related misinformation, e.g. posts dissuading users from seeking professional help, taking prescribed medications or encouraging self-diagnosis based on misleading information	50%
Post that mentions plans to self-harm or die by suicide or explains how to self-harm or die by suicide or otherwise encourages self-harm or suicide	60%

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Release date

November 2023

More information

Region

Kenya, United States

Survey time period

June and July 2023

Supplementary notes

The research is based on an automated algorithmic audit of TikTok’s ‘For You’ page recommender system using research accounts simulating 13-year-olds’ engagement with the platform in Kenya and the United States.

The source adds the following information: "The broad mental health-related terms list included terms such as: mentalhealth, mentalhealthmatters, sadtiktok, schooldraining, struggling, ventingaccount as well as prominent abbreviations, misspellings and code words for depression and self-harm.

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