TIKTOK APPLICATION: EFFECTS TO THE MENTAL HEALTH OF SELECTED

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of

PrimitivoKalaw Senior High School

Palsara, Balete, Batangas

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

Practical Research I

CARANTO, ERICH

BENAMER, ADRIAN

VERGARA, ADRIAN

PANGANIBAN, BRYAN

PUNZALAN, TYRON

CAPINPIN, JAMESPAUL

MARCH 2023
 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

TikTok has been accused of lured children onto the platform by falsely claiming it is

friendly for users between 13-17 years old, and may surface potentially harmful content related

to suicide and eating disorders to teenagers within minutes of creating within minutes of creating

an account. TikTok has ameesed more than one billion global users and spent an average of an

hour and a half per day on the app in last year, more than any other social media platform. This

may only compound a longer-term rise in mental health issues, partly fueled by technology.

TikTok has tools to help users set limits for how long they spend on the app each day, as well as

ways to filter out mature or “potentially problematic” videos and more parental controls. Social

media companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Youtube have been accused

of causing a youth mental health crisis. However, psychologist Dr. Jean Twenger said

TikTok’salogorithm is “very sophisticated” and “ very sticky” which keeps teens engaged on the

platform longer. TikTok has amassed more than one billion global users and spent an average of

an hour and half per day on the app in last year, more than any other social media platform. This

is problematic because the more time a teen spends on social media, the more likely they are to

be depressed. TikTok has tools to help users set limits and filter out mature videos, as well as

more parental controls, TikTok is committed to supporting the safety and well-being of teens,

and has removed 93.4% of videos on self-harm and suicide from an app between april and june

2022. However, teens say the content programmed to them in the “For You” section of the app is

what keeps them engaged. Pew Research found that 8 out of 10 teen ages 13-17 say social media
makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends or family’s life and 71% say

social media is a place they can be creative. Gen Z, the generation that has been raised on

TikTok has found unique opportunities on the platform.

Therefore, this research study is to investigate the mental health by using TikTok

application. This research has involved Grade 11 students respondents and the questionnaire was

distributed by interviewing to the target respondents. Hopefully, this research also can suit as a

reference to be used for various people such as parents, educators, school administration,

researchers and the society to provide strategic and initiative guidance in using TikTok.

Statement of the Problem

The purposed of the study is to determine the effect of TikTok in mental health of selected

Senior High School Students.

1. What are the effects of TikTok to the mental health of selected senior high school students?

2.Do they feel addicted to using TikTok?

Significance of the Study

This result of the study are of great benefit to following:

The Students.

This study will help them identify their experiences of using TikTok, and relate to the effect

provided by their students.

The Parents / Guardians of the Respondents.

This will help the parents / guardians of the respondents to have a clear idea in guiding their

children in terms of their use of TikTok in dealing with their Mental health. This study will help

other TikTok users to know the things to consider and how to carefully balance your mental

health and using other social media platform

Future Researchers.

All the data gathered in this research can serve as a good source of information and can be a

reference for researchers who plan to conduct a related study.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

The scope of the study is to find the effect of TikTok in the mental health of selected

senior high school students in Primitivo Kalaw Senior High School. Ten (10) of the students

were included in the sample to conduct this research. Students will also be given the same

questions. This study focuses on the current school year 2022-2023 only

The primary goal of this study is to identify the effect of TikTok in the students mental

health.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

To better understand the study, the following terms are defined conceptually and

operatonally.

TikTok Application- is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short

videos. The app is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing,

dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a

community.(webwise.ei)It refers to social media platform.

Mental Health - is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of

life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.

( who.int). It refers to the basic human rights

Negative Thoughts - are cognitions about the self, others, or the world in general that are

characterized by negative perceptions, expectations, and attributions and are associated with

unpleasant emotions and adverse behavioral, physiological, and health outcomes.( springer). It it

refers thinking of a wrong decision or misunderstanding something.

Effect – it ischange that results when something is done or happens( Britannica). This is the

outcome of what you did.

Harm – it is physical or mental damage (mirriam Webster) it refers when someone try to attack

you on purposed.

Situation – It is a set of circumstances in which one finds oneself (oxford language). Example

of this is when your going to choose between you mother or father because they have to devorce

and you are in a SITUATION cause your going to choose.

Selected – it iscarefully choose as being the best or most suitable.(Oxford Language). it refers

that you are appropriate to that.

Senior High School – It is a secondary school typically comprising the three highest grades.(Ox

Language) In this study you will take the grade 11 & 12 and you will choose the strand.

Avoid - keep away from or stop oneself from doing something.(Ox language). It refers to

keeping away your self to something

School –it isan institution for educating children.(Ox Language). has 2 types a public and

private.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of related literatures and studies that contributed a lot in

the completion of the study. Several researches and studies have also been included in this

chapter to be able to have a clear understanding of the conducted study.

Conceptual Literature

Stress Reliever

Stress is often understood in its negative expression as synonymous with distress. This is

also how the concept of stress will be used in this report. However, it is worth bearing in mind

that adapting to a new situation, even when the situation at first may be considered a threat,

cannot entirely be seen as a negative process as overcoming the threat may be considered

beneficial to personal growth and learning (Di Martino, 1992).

Several taxonomies of stressors have been introduced (e.g. Cooper & Marshall, 1976; Cox,

1978,). Cox et al. (2000) identify ten types of stressors or stressful characteristics of work, which

again are divided into two groups: ‘content of work’ and ‘context to work’. The first group,

‘content of work’ refers to the following classes of stressors, work-environment and work

equipment; task design, workload/work-pace and work schedule. The second group is made up

of stressors such as organisational culture and function; role in organisations, career

development, decision latitude and control, home work interface, and interpersonal relationships

at work. Interpersonal relationships encompass negative interactions with others in the

workplace. This stressor, therefore, includes those behaviours relevant to the present report;
namely, violence, harassment, and bullying. At the same time, any of the above stressors can

function as antecedents of violence, harassment and bullying, as well as influencing the stress-

coping process.

Stress is prevalent among clergy. Studies report growing levels of stress and burnout

among clergy and their families as they deal with intrusive demands, overwhelming

responsibilities, financial strain and other issues (Darling, Hill, and McWey 268-70; Forward

165-70; Lee 481-84; Morris and Blanton, “Influence of WorkRelated Stressors” 189-90; Rowatt

526).

employ stress-measuring scales or physiological monitoring which may be intrusive and

inconvenient. Instead, the ubiquitous nature of the social media can be leveraged to identify

stress and relaxation, since many people habitually share their recent life experiences through

social networking sites ( De Leyn et al., 2021).

For relaxation

 relaxation refers to a state with the absence of tension and anxiety and is often seen as the

polar opposite of stress, anxiety or tension (Pagnini, Manzoni, Castelnuovo, & Molinari, 2013).

Relaxation therapies are often proposed for anxiety disorders (Pagnini, Manzoni, Castelnuovo, &

Molinari, 2013) and stress (e.g., Iglesias et al., 2012, Werneburg et al., 2011). For example,

workplace stress can be reduced by yoga programmes (Wolever, et al., 2012).

The task of detecting stress and relaxation is similar to the existing task of detecting

sentiment in text. Sentiment analysis systems may classify texts into positive/negative categories

(Turney, 2002), positive/negative/neutral categories (Pang & Lee, 2004), by strength of

positivity and negativity (Thelwall, Buckley, & Paltoglou, 2012), by valence and arousal

(Paltoglou & Thelwall, 2013).

Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression rights, including press freedom and the right to access information,

are upheld in tandem with privacy rights, which are also enshrined in international human rights

law. So, where relevant, this study also touches on online privacy and dignity issues. Further, it

situates the problem of disinformation in the context of the enabling role of the internet -

especially the social web - in both improving access to information, and as a disinformation

vector. It discusses in detail the potential for responses to disinformation to curb freedom of

expression and suggests ways to avoid such impacts ( Shepherd & Edelmann, 2005).

Governments around the world are strictly regulating information on TikTok in the

interests of addressing fake news. There is, however, a risk that the uncontrolled spread of

information could increase the adverse effects of the COVID-19 health emergency through the

influence of false and misleading news. Yet governments may well use health emergency

regulation as a pretext for implementing draconian restrictions on the right to freedom of

expression, as well as increasing social media censorship (ie chilling effects) (chatterjee, 2018).

TikTok can relate to difficult situation

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok—during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, two

mediators were tested: social support and upward social comparison. One thousand four persons

completed an online survey during the quarantine measures; the analyses employed structural

equation modeling. Results showed that passive usage of Facebook is negatively related to well-

being through upward social comparison, whereas active usage of Instagram is positively related
to satisfaction with life and negative affect through social support. Furthermore, active usage of

Twitter was positively related to satisfaction with life through social support; while passive

usage was negatively related to upward social comparison, which, in turn, was associated with

more negative affect. Finally, TikTok use was not associated with well-being. Results are

discussed in line with SNSs’ architectures and users’ motivations. Future research is required to

go beyond methodological and statistical limitations and allow generalization. This study

concludes that SNSs must be differentiated to truly understand how they shape human

interactions (De Leyn et al., 2021) In addition TikTok really help us to relate our difficult

situation in life.

Related Literature

It has also been posited that socially anxious individuals use the Internet to regulate and

compensate for their social fears (Shepherd & Edelmann, 2005). Research indicates that socially

anxious individuals may perceive the Internet broadly as a more comfortable platform for

socializing, which affects their preference and choice to engage online rather than face-to-face

(Erwin et al., 2004).

Recently, there has been increased attention to the rising rates of loneliness in modern

society. A recent national report found that nearly half of Americans report sometimes or always

feeling lonely, and interestingly, that young adults (ages 18–22) are at the highest risk for

loneliness (Chatterjee, 2018). Loneliness is defined as the aversive state of feeling that there is a

discrepancy between one’s actual and desired social relationships (Peplau& Perlman, 1982).

Despite finding only that loneliness predicts more frequent Facebook use, Song et al.

(2014) note that there is continued debate in the literature about the causal direction of this
relationship and more research is needed to determine whether problematic SMU also predicts

loneliness. Although it appears that lonely individuals may engage more frequently online,

whether they find what they are looking for online remains unclear. Further, it is not yet

understood whether certain types of SMU (e.g., passive scrolling, active broadcasting of

information without engaging others) may exacerbate loneliness, which we explore in this

review. Although social media may increase opportunities for social connectedness, it may also

create an environment brimming with social comparisons that may exacerbate experiences of

social isolation and loneliness among the younger generations who use it most.

Due to experiences of social isolation and rejection, socially anxious individuals are at risk

for feeling particularly lonely (Cacioppo, Grippo, London, Goossens, &Cacioppo, 2015; Fung,

Patterson, & Alden, 2017; Teo, Lerrigo, & Rogers, 2013). Lim, Rodebaugh, Zyphur, and

Gleeson (2016) found that, other than prior loneliness, prior social anxiety was the only predictor

of future loneliness in a community-based sample, indicating that social anxiety plays an

important role in the persistence of loneliness.

A number of studies have illustrated that socially anxious individuals prefer online to face-

to-face social interactions and have a tendency to use social media more problematically. More

socially anxious individuals appear to use social media with greater frequency

(Casale&Fioravanti, 2015; Dempsey, O’Brien, Tiamiyu, &Elhai, 2019; Lee-Won, Herzog, &

Park, 2015; Shaw, Timpano, Tran, &Joormann, 2015) and greater intensity (i.e., defined as

emotional attachment and use of social media in daily life; Davidson & Farquhar, 2014) than less

socially anxious peers. Research has also pointed to the association between social anxiety and

the addictive qualities of SMU; Honnekori et al. (2017) found that greater social anxiety was

associated with a perceived inability to reduce Facebook use, greater urges toward increasing
use, spending more time thinking about Facebook, experiencing negative reactions to restricting

use, and using it to forget one’s problems.

Instead, social anxiety seems to carry over to socially anxious individuals’ social

media presence and hinder their ability to connect with others on social media. A few studies

have highlighted the ways in which socially anxious individuals exhibit behavioral symptoms of

their social anxiety on social media. In their explorations of Facebook profile attributes,

Fernandez, Levinson, and Rodebaugh (2012) and Weidman and Levinson (2015) found that

social anxiety was observable both in the objective ways that individuals presented information

on their profiles, as well as in others’ impressions of their profiles; individuals with higher social

anxiety showed less social activity on their profile (e.g., fewer Facebook friends and

photographs, fewer activities listed on profile), fewer romantic relationships (e.g., relationship

status listed as “single”), and less self-disclosure (e.g., fewer status updates) than individuals

with lower social anxiety, and these findings showed medium effects. Observers also rated the

perceived level of individuals’ social anxiety based on viewing their Facebook profiles and

observed more social anxiety on more socially anxious individuals’ profiles compared to less

socially anxious individuals’ profiles.

Some affluent parent practices (i.e. overwhelming their child with intense afterschool

extracurricular schedules, pressure to achieve, materialism, close supervision, etc.) can be toxic

to healthy self-development (Levine, 2006). Many students have extremely high levels of

anxiety, stemming from successful yet well-intentioned parents. Thus, they have extra pressure

within themselves and are constantly comparing themselves to others. Therefore, they find

themselves lacking certain skills such as depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse, as

Levine (2006) mentioned in her price of privilege article.

 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

This chapter concentrates on the discussion of the research methods on how researcher

gather the information by the respondents to conduct this study. This chapter contains data

gathering procedure, respondents of the study, sampling design, the instruments and ethical

considerations.

Research Design

This study was made by the means of qualitative methods of researcher. The researcher

attempted to get the answers to the aforementioned problem and to justify and satisfy the

objectives of the study. Likewise, it also attempted to know the different effect of TikTok

application in Mental Health of selected students.

According to RainoStreetkerk, 2019, Qualitative research is express in words. It is used to

understand concepts, thoughts ot experience. This type of research enables you to gather in-depth

insight on topics that are not well understood. Common qualitative methods include interviews

with open-ended questions,observation described in words, and literature reviews that explore

concepts and theories. It it also at risk for certain research biases including the hawthome effect,

observer bias, recall bias, and social desirability bias.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study is composed of Grade 11 students Primitivo Kalaw Senior High

School. One of the vital processes to keep this study successful. All of these participats was

selected through purposive sampling. Purposive sampling refers to a group of non-probability

sampling techniques in which units are selected because they have characteristics that you need

in your sample. In other words, units are selected "on purpose" in purposive sampling. It is also

called judmental sampling, this sampling method relies on the researcher's judgement when

identifying and selecting the individuals, cases of events that can provide the best information to

achieve the study's objectives.

The chosen respondents are containing of ten (10) respondents from selected school in

Primitivo Kalaw Senior High School. The grade 11 students in ABM, STEM, HUMSS and TVL

strands. Those students was chosen by the researchers because they are suitable and applicable to

the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

For the purpose of this research, in depth interviews were used. In depth interviews are personal

and unstructured interviews, whose aim is to identify participant's emotion, feelings and opinions

regarding a particular research subject. The main advantage of personal interviews is that they

invovledperosnal and direct contact between interviewers and interviewees, as well as eliminate

non-response rates, but interviews need to have developed the necessary skills to sucessfully

carry as interview (Fisher, 2005, Wilson, 2003). What is more, unstructed interviews offer

flexibility in terms of the flow of the interview, thereby leaving room for the generation of

conclusion that were not initially meant to be derived regarding a research subject. However,

there is the risk that the interview may deviate from the pre-specified research aims and

objectives (Gill & Johnson 2002.)

As far as data collection tools were concerned, the conduction of the research involved the

use of semi-structured questionnaire, which was used as an interview guide for the researcher.
Some certain questions were prepared, so as for the researcher to guide the interview towards the

satisfaction of research objectives, but additional questions were made encountered during the

interviews.

Research Instrument

The questionnaire was used as the main data-gathering instrument. The instrument to be

prepared focused on answering the statement of the problem. Effect of TikTok application in

Mental Health of selected students. The questionnaires will be ask to respondents by

interviewing them.
 CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter presents the details regarding the results of the study. It also consists of the

analysis and interpretation of the congregated data. The findings presented are analyzed and

interpreted to answer the research questions presented in the study.

Stress Reliever

According to 10 students yes they are stress free when they used TikTok they also say that

TikTok help them to feel better. Anxiety, depression, and stress are three comorbid internalizing

mental health illnesses (Ali et al., 2021; Moore et al., 2016). Since 2020, we have seen increased

rates of all three across ages and genders (Ali et al., 2021). These mental health illnesses have

impacted a wide variety of individuals; however, the prevalence of internalizing mental health

illnesses seems to be highest amongst adolescents and females (Zahn-Waxler et al., 2000)

For Relaxation

According to 10 students they say that yes they are relax by using TikTok by watching

some content that make them happy or lessen their stress. According to (Feng, et al., 2022)

the main purpose of using TikTok is to relax body and mind

Freedom of Expression

According to 8 students they freely express their emotion by using TikTok and i'll ask

them by how they express their emotion by using TikTok they say they create some TikTok

contents but the remaining 2 says that they can't express their emotion because they too shy to

show it.Authenticity, generally regarded as coherence between one's inner self and outward

behavior, is associated with myriad social values (e.g., integrity) and beneficial outcomes, such

as psychological well-being. Scholarship suggests, however, that behaving authentically online is

complicated by self-presentation norms that make it difficult to present a complex self as well as

encourage sharing positive emotions and facets of self and discourage sharing difficult emotions.

In this paper, we position authenticity as a self-presentation norm and identify the sociomaterial

factors that contribute to the learning, enactment, and enforcement of authenticity on the short-

video sharing platform TikTok. We draw on interviews with 15 U.S. TikTok users to argue that

normative authenticity and understanding of TikTok as a "fun" platform are mutually

constitutive in supporting a "just be you" attitude on TikTok that in turn normalizes expressions

of both positive and difficult emotions and experiences. We consider the social context of

TikTok and use an affordance lens to identify anonymity, of oneself and one's audience;

association between content and the "For You" landing page; and video modality of TikTok as

factors informing authenticity as a self-presentation norm. We argue that these factors similarly

contribute to TikTok's viability as a space for social support exchange and address the utility of

the comments section as a site for both supportive communication and norm judgment and

enforcement. We conclude by considering the limitations of authenticity as social norm and

present implications for designing online spaces for social support and connection.
TikTok can relate to difficult situation

According to 10 students yes tiktok really relate to their difficult situation because some of

the content creators have a situation like they have.Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok—

during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, two mediators were tested: social support and

upward social comparison. One thousand four persons completed an online survey during the

quarantine measures; the analyses employed structural equation modeling. Results showed that

passive usage of Facebook is negatively related to well-being through upward social comparison,

whereas active usage of Instagram is positively related to satisfaction with life and negative

affect through social support. Furthermore, active usage of Twitter was positively related to

satisfaction with life through social support; while passive usage was negatively related to

upward social comparison, which, in turn, was associated with more negative affect. Finally,

TikTok use was not associated with well-being. Results are discussed in line with SNSs’

architectures and users’ motivations. Future research is required to go beyond methodological

and statistical limitations and allow generalization. This study concludes that SNSs must be

differentiated to truly understand how they shape human interactions (De Leyn et al., 2021) In

addition TikTok really help us to relate our difficult situation in life.

 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the findings, conclusion and recommendation of study about the effects of

TikTok Application to the mental health of selected Senior High Students.

Findings:

 All of the respondents said that TikTok served as stress reliever

 10 students says that TikTok help them to feel relax

 8 out of 10 students said that they have freedom of expression by using TikTok

 10 students said that TikTok can relate to their difficult situation,

Conclusion:

1. Majority of the respondents said that TikTok served as stress reliever

2. Most of the respondents says that TikTok really help them to feel relax

3. Just 8 of the respondents said that they have a freedom of expression by using TikTok

4. Majority of the students said that TikTok can relate to their difficult situation.

Recommendation:

Based at the findings and conclusions drawn from the study, the following are hereby

Recommended:

To the students: since majority of the respondents says that TikTok served them as a stress

reliever, the researchers recommend to further investigate the effects of TikTok on mental health

and well-being.
The parents/ Guardians of the Respondents: It is also recommended for parents and educators to

become aware of how their children and students are using the app, and to provide guidance and

support as necessary. Additionally, platforms like TikTok should take into consideration the

sociomaterial factors that contribute to the learning, enactment, and enforcement of authenticity

as a self-presentation norm, and how these factors impact the mental health and well-being of

their users.

To the future researcher: Finally, future research should be conducted to explore the potential

negative effects of social media use on mental health and well-being, and to design effective

interventions that can help individuals maintain a healthy balance between their online and

offline lives.