Can’t stop scrolling! Adolescents’ patterns of TikTok use and digital well-being self-perception

The study addresses rising concerns about adolescent mental health and the role of pervasive social media use, focusing on digital well-being as a balance between benefits and drawbacks of digital connectivity. TikTok, highly popular among youths and particularly prevalent in Spain, lacks platform-specific evidence regarding its effects on adolescents’ digital well-being, especially considering potential gender differences. This research explores how time spent on TikTok and the type of content consumed relate to teenagers’ self-perceived digital well-being, and whether there are gender-based differences. Research questions: (RQ1) adolescents’ TikTok use patterns (time and content); (RQ2) self-perception of digital well-being on TikTok; (RQ3) gender differences in TikTok use and digital well-being; (RQ4) associations between TikTok use and digital well-being.

The paper reviews definitions and frameworks of digital well-being, noting it as an individual’s perceived balance in digital consumption (Vanden Abeele, 2021) and as an extension of subjective well-being (Prakash, 2023). Prior research links social media use with mixed outcomes for adolescent well-being, with inconclusive causal evidence and critiques of using indiscriminate screen-time metrics. Studies suggest platform-specific features and differentiated activities (passive vs. active use) matter, and that effects vary by gender. TikTok differs from social platforms focused on interpersonal interaction; its entertainment-oriented, algorithm-driven feed encourages predominantly passive consumption, which prior work on other platforms has sometimes associated with poorer well-being, though platform-specific evidence is sparse. Spain exhibits high social media use among adolescents and high TikTok preference. Existing Spanish research largely centers on education/family contexts of digital well-being or on TikTok time/addictive behaviors and content creation by teen influencers, with little on content consumption patterns and digital well-being. This study addresses these gaps by examining platform-specific, passive use, content categories, and gender differences.

Design: Quantitative cross-sectional online survey of Spanish adolescents aged 12–18. Sampling and participants: Stratified random sampling via ODEC across Spain; initial N=1,043; analytic sample N=737 TikTok users (343 male, 46.5%; 394 female, 53.5%); mean age 14.21 (SD=1.40). Data collection: Online self-administered questionnaire distributed 24 April–6 May 2024 with informed consent; sampling stratified by autonomous community, municipality size, gender, and age. Ethics and data security: Complied with UNE EN ISO/IEC27001; approved by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Ethics Committee (CE24-PR05). Measures: (1) TikTok time of use: self-reported average daily time in six categorical options (from <10 min to >2 hours). (2) Type of content consumption: frequency (1=Never to 5=Always) across categories adapted from Senchack (2023), including comedy, music, influencers/streamers, dance/lip-sync, books/films/series/reality, video games, travel/leisure, trends, beauty, fashion, fitness/sports, medicine, psychology, other well-being-related content, tutorials, current news, various knowledge, plus an open-ended ‘other’. (3) Digital well-being on TikTok: Adapted Prakash (2023) scale referring specifically to TikTok use; original four dimensions were examined via EFA after translation/adaptation. Psychometrics: EFA suitability: Bartlett’s test χ²(78)=3363.65, p<0.001; KMO=0.83. Extraction: Principal Axis; rotation: Varimax. Factor solution: three factors explaining 60.46% variance—(a) emotional resilience (all original items), (b) agency (all original items), and (c) social connection and communion (combining original social connection and communion items). Reliability (Cronbach’s α): emotional resilience=0.79; agency=0.62; social connection and communion=0.83. Response format: 5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree); higher scores indicate higher digital well-being. Analysis: IBM SPSS 25. Descriptives; Pearson’s chi-square for gender differences in time use; independent-samples t-tests for gender differences in content consumption and digital well-being dimensions; one-way ANOVAs to test effects of time-of-use categories on digital well-being; bivariate correlations between content categories and digital well-being dimensions. Alpha set at 0.05.

- Usage time: The most common daily TikTok use category was 31–60 minutes (21.3%), closely followed by ≥121 minutes (20.22%). Approximately 35% reported >90 minutes/day and ~20% reported >120 minutes/day. - Gender and time: Gender significantly related to time-of-use (χ²(5, N=737)=15.30, p=0.01). Girls were more likely than boys to report ≥121 min/day; boys were more likely to report ≤10 min/day (significant adjusted residuals). - Content consumption patterns: Overall most consumed categories were comedy, music, influencers/streamers news, and dance/lip-sync trends. Gender differences were significant across multiple categories: boys consumed more comedy, video games, and professional sports; girls consumed more dance/lip-sync, music, travel/leisure, fashion, food, psychology, and other well-being-related content. Other categories showed no significant gender differences. - Digital well-being levels: Mean scores indicated generally positive self-perceptions—emotional resilience: 3.31±0.60; agency: 3.22±0.91; social connection and communion: 3.64±0.57. No significant gender differences in any digital well-being dimension. - Time-of-use effect on digital well-being: Greater TikTok use time was associated with lower agency (reduced ability to set boundaries and limit time on the app). - Content–well-being correlations: Weak but significant positive correlations between culture-related content (e.g., music; books/films/TV/reality) and emotional resilience/agency. Social connection and communion showed the highest positive correlations with fashion, beauty, comedy, and dance/lip-sync content. Overall effect sizes were small.

Findings answer the research questions by showing that Spanish adolescents frequently engage with entertainment-oriented TikTok content and a sizable share spend over 90 minutes daily on the platform. Adolescents generally report positive digital well-being on TikTok across emotional resilience, agency, and social connection/communion, suggesting platform-specific dynamics may differ from prior findings on other social platforms. Clear gender differences emerged in use patterns and content preferences—girls use TikTok longer and prefer beauty/fashion and music/dance content; boys prefer comedy, video games, and sports—indicating enduring influence of traditional gender norms in passive consumption. Despite these distinct use patterns, digital well-being did not differ by gender, implying that the app’s design and content ecology may yield similar well-being appraisals across genders. Importantly, heavier use is linked to reduced agency, consistent with concerns about infinite scroll and potential problematic use diminishing self-regulation. Content–well-being correlations suggest that consumption of culture-related content may be associated with better emotional regulation and sense of control, whereas community-oriented content (fashion/beauty/comedy/dance trends) aligns with stronger social connection and communion. Policy and practice implications include time-limiting measures, parental engagement and controls, and educational programs that promote balanced digital habits rather than blanket disconnection, as moderate use may be optimal for well-being.

- RQ1: Around 35% of adolescents report more than 1.5 hours/day on TikTok; the most consumed content involves entertainment (comedy, music, influencers/streamers, dance/lip-sync). - RQ2: Adolescents report rather positive digital well-being on TikTok across emotional resilience, agency, and social connection/communion. - RQ3: Significant gender differences exist in time-of-use and content preferences (girls use longer; boys vs. girls differ in domain interests), reflecting traditional gender roles in passive content consumption; however, no gender differences were found in digital well-being levels. - RQ4: Increased time on TikTok is associated with reduced agency to limit use. Content consumption shows weak positive associations with digital well-being dimensions: culture-related content with emotional resilience/agency, and fashion/beauty/comedy/dance content with social connection/communion. Overall, results support targeted time management and educational interventions, with sensitivity to gendered consumption patterns, while cautioning against equating mere screen time with uniform well-being outcomes.

- Context specificity: Data from Spain may limit generalizability beyond similar European contexts, particularly given sociocultural framing of digital well-being. - Self-reported time: Reliance on self-reported TikTok time may underestimate actual use; objective measures are recommended in future work. - Scope of use metrics: Although content categories were included, other relevant factors (e.g., motivations, emotions/feelings during use) were not assessed and may influence digital well-being. - Measurement adaptation: The digital well-being scale was adapted to TikTok and revalidated with EFA, yielding three factors (combining social connection and communion) and a moderate reliability for the agency subscale (α=0.62), which may constrain precision. Future research should employ objective usage data, incorporate motivational and affective variables, pursue platform-specific analyses (especially TikTok) versus general social media use, and examine links between digital well-being, problematic use/addiction, subjective well-being, and mental health outcomes.