Introduction
The headline in the selected story is that teenagers who are addicted to TikTok are more likely to experience severe depression, anxiety, and limited working memory. The selected article was obtained from a news website called PsyPost and was published online on January 25, 2022. The article captured my attention since it focuses on addiction, which develops from the use of TikTok, a common application among the youth. I trust the news source since it has over ten years of experience providing news related to psychology and neuroscience. The article is related to information processing which is a cognition topic. Addicted users of TikTok have a reduced working memory, resulting from depression and anxiety.
First Impression
The story presented in the article is shocking since no one could have imagined that frequent use of a common application like TikTok can contribute to elevated levels of anxiety and depression. The story is also presented straightforwardly since the first sentence indicates that addiction among TikTok users led to problems in recalling number sequences. The selected article does not appear to be having any missing information. On sighting the article, I came to a conclusion that it can be relied upon since it cites evidence from the original research article.
Original Scientific Article
The original scientific article used in informing the selected source was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The authors of the scientific article were Peng Sha and Xiaoyu Dong. It is titled “Research on Adolescents Regarding the Indirect Effect of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress between TikTok Use Disorder and Memory Loss.”
Summary
The news article highlights participants and the different methods used to collect data for the research. The information presented in the news article aligns with the one provided in the scientific article. The news article also focuses on the results section of the scientific research paper. A difference in how the findings are presented is that the scientific article includes tables and figures indicating the collected data. In contrast, the news article has a brief description of the findings. The news article simplifies the scientific article without misleading the reader since it highlights all the key findings. Ellwood (2022) does not leave out the limitations discussed in the scientific article since she highlights that the study did not represent all teenagers; therefore, future studies must be generalized.
Trust for the Scientific Article
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has an impact factor of 3.39, evaluated in 2020. The scientific article by Sha and Dong (2021) is consistent with other studies since it references many of them, indicating that similar findings have been realized. In my opinion, the scientific article does not have any missing controls or weaknesses. The scientific article does not appear in the Psychological File Drawer, indicating that the results recorded in the article can replicate.
Conclusion
The article has enabled me to learn that continued use of TikTok to the extent of addiction can lead to the development of severe depression and anxiety. Increased depression and anxiety contribute to reduced working memory; hence it becomes harder for addicted persons to remember number sequences. This indicates that there is a great need to control TikTok use to save young people from developing depression and anxiety hence preserving their working memory capacity.
References
Ellwood, B. (2022). Teens who are “addicted” to TikTok experience worse depression and anxiety, and in turn, reduced working memory capacity. Psypost. Web.
Sha, P., & Dong, X. (2021). Research on adolescents regarding the indirect effect of depression, anxiety, and stress between TikTok use disorder and memory loss. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(16), 8820. Web.