{
  "abstract": "Objectives Social media, particularly TikTok, plays a key role in mental health awareness but also spreads misinformation, impacting perceptions of conditions such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Awareness campaigns can reduce stigma and improve mental health literacy. According to the prevalence inflation hypothesis, awareness leads to both genuine increases in mental health diagnosis but also to overdiagnosis due to overinterpretation of mild distress as clinical issues. Social learning may contribute to this issue through socially induced nocebo effects, where individuals internalize and amplify symptoms after seeing others share ADHD struggles online. A recent study found that 70% of information shared on tiktok about ADHD was deemed ‘normal human experience’ by clinical psychologist, an indication of pathologizing mild distress (Karasawa et al. 2024). Our study aims to investigate how TikTok posts influence viewers’ intentions to self-diagnose ADHD exploring the prevalence inflation hypothesis and the role of socially induced nocebo effects.Method Participants aged 18–40 years living in Australia without a prior ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses will be randomly assigned to view one of four TikTok posts, featuring either: (1) a personal anecdote featuring evidence-based symptoms, (2) a personal anecdote featuring misrepresentative symptoms, (3) an awareness campaign featuring evidence-based symptoms, or (4) an awareness campaign featuring misrepresentative symptoms. The TikTok posts are designed to mimic real online content and reviewed by an expert in ADHD diagnosis. Participants will be recruited through Dynata (a market research company specializing in panel sampling) and access the study via an online Qualtrics survey. The primary outcome is intention to self-diagnose, secondary outcomes included intention to seek an official diagnosis, internalized stigma, emotional responses, and perceived credibility of the content.Results The primary and secondary outcomes will be analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine differences between the three groups. Additionally, a thematic analysis will be applied to any open-ended responses in the questionnaire to identify recurring patterns or themes. To ensure sufficient power for detecting an interaction effect between the two independent variables, a total sample size of 928 participants (232 per condition) will be required for a difference of 0.65 units with a 0.05 significance level and 80% power with 1.75 standard deviation.Data collection will be completed in May 2025, and results will be available for presentation at the time of the conference.Conclusions This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by examining how ADHD-related health messaging on social media influences self-diagnosis behaviors, with implications for both individual and public health. By exploring the mechanisms through which online content may contribute to socially induced nocebo effects and overdiagnosis, the study offers a timely and nuanced perspective on digital health communication. The findings are expected to inform the development of more balanced and effective health messaging—reducing the risk of overdiagnosis among individuals unlikely to benefit, while supporting those who genuinely require clinical attention.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Jesse Jansen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Family Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Skye van Liempt"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Kirsten McCaffery"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Brooke Nickel"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Alice Graham"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands"
      ],
      "name": "Annabeth Groenman"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Tessa Copp"
    }
  ],
  "title": "093 The impact of social media on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) self-diagnosis: an online randomized trial",
  "uid": "d4924335-86d5-5455-91ae-67879b47ada4"
}