While TikTok has increased the maximum duration of videos to 10 minutes, a new study has questioned the impact of the Chinese social network on the health of the youngest users. Indeed, researchers from the University of Florida claim that: The application may cause an increase in nervous tics in adolescents. A phenomenon even more pronounced in users with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.
According to these experts, these symptoms worsened during the pandemic and during successive quarantines in patients aged 11 to 21 years. So, and 17 of the 20 volunteers who participated in this study said that the frequency of their tics had increased, half said that social media made the situation worse.
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“Considering the known increase in social media use during the pandemic period and the parallel increase in tics and tics observed in our clinic, we investigated whether there is a relationship between social media use and tic symptoms. University of Florida’s Dr. Jessica Frey explains.
Of course, more research needs to be done to determine and best identify the stressors that cause more severe ticscan occur as sudden, uncontrollable sounds and movements. Researchers asked participants to rate the severity of their tics from 0 to 6. On average, those who used social media moderately during the pandemic gave it a score of 4. Those who increased the duration of use gave 5 points.
As a reminder, a study published in October 2021 also claimed that TikTok triggered or aggravated Tourette syndrome in adolescents. In other words, the heavy use of the social network will indeed help the emergence of neurological disorders.
Source: Metro
