r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 16d ago

Neuroscience ADHD misinformation on TikTok is shaping young adults’ perceptions. An analysis of the 100 most-viewed TikTok videos related to ADHD revealed that fewer than half the claims about symptoms actually align with clinical guidelines for diagnosing ADHD.

https://news.ubc.ca/2025/03/adhd-misinformation-on-tiktok/
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u/Veil-of-Fire 16d ago

It took me a while, but I tracked down the study that number comes from (the linked study just quoted it, they didn't derive it). It was a deep rabbit hole. That study linked to a 2022 study, which took the number from a 2011 study, which took the number from a 2007 study, which finally led back to the study the number comes from, conducted in 2004 and published in 2006.

This one: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395605000385?via%3Dihub

The number was 1.5% in their study, which only included families from upstate New York.

The present findings are based on data from a representative sample of 658 individuals from upstate New York who completed comprehensive psychosocial and psychiatric interviews in 2001–2004 (mean age 33.1; SD = 2.9), and in a series of previous interviews conducted with themselves and their mothers during adolescence and early adulthood.

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u/WingsofRain 16d ago

I’ve been on an airplane on and off almost all day today so I appreciate you doing the digging!

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u/cskelly2 14d ago

My fav part about this is it’s reflective of a specific psychiatric population and not gen pop but gets cited as gen pop. The real number is probably something around .04%