Social media videos cause many mental problems with one exception

An analysis of dozens of studies involving almost 100,000 participants found that exposure to short-form videos (SFVs) like those on TikTok and Instagram is contributing to a host of mental health conditions.

The work, published by the American Psychological Association, said the effects included poorer cognition (attention, inhibitory control, language, memory, etc.) and a decline in many mental health indices.

“These findings were consistent across youth and adult samples and across different SFV platforms,” the researchers wrote in their study , titled: “Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use.”

The researchers noted that while initially geared toward entertainment, SFVs are incre