Yeh Jasper, Villani Julia, Haikalis Michelle, Rios Matthew, Pielech Melissa
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences & Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2025 Sep;86(5):795-805. doi: 10.15288/jsad.23-00418. Epub 2024 Dec 27.
Despite an abundance of public discourse about the opioid crisis in the media, there is little research characterizing opioid-related content on TikTok, a popular video-based social media platform. This study sought to examine how opioids are portrayed on TikTok.
This study used mixed methods to analyze top opioid-related posts marked with the hashtag "#opioids" collected in May 2023. "Holistic coding" was used to topically categorize multimedia content in posts and to quantify the frequency of mentioning opioid-related content areas (e.g., overdose, pain, fentanyl). Template analysis methods were then used to develop themes.
A total of 115 posts were analyzed. The most frequently used opioid-related topic codes include prescription opioids (58.3% of posts), pain (47.0%), overdose (35.7%), and fentanyl (34.8%). Posts were most commonly about challenges to accessing prescription opioids for pain management (37.4%), opioid policy (36.5%), and negative consequences of using opioids (32.2%). Qualitative analysis yielded themes about the potential dangers associated with using opioids, treatment and recovery from opioid use disorder, and barriers to obtaining prescription opioids for pain management.
This study revealed polarizing opinions within opioid-related content on TikTok. The two main stances, dangers of nonmedical opioid use and advocacy for the availability of prescription opioids for pain management, represent nationwide tensions between the opioid and chronic pain crises. The vast audience TikTok garners presents an opportunity for disseminating opioid education, harm-reduction strategies, and treatment options for opioid use disorder that were largely absent among the posts analyzed.
尽管媒体上有大量关于阿片类药物危机的公开讨论，但对于TikTok（一个受欢迎的基于视频的社交媒体平台）上与阿片类药物相关的内容，却鲜有研究进行描述。本研究旨在考察TikTok上阿片类药物是如何被呈现的。
本研究采用混合方法，分析了2023年5月收集的带有“#阿片类药物”标签的热门阿片类药物相关帖子。采用“整体编码”对帖子中的多媒体内容进行主题分类，并对提及阿片类药物相关内容领域（如过量用药、疼痛、芬太尼）的频率进行量化。然后使用模板分析方法来提炼主题。
共分析了115个帖子。最常用的阿片类药物相关主题代码包括处方阿片类药物（占帖子的58.3%）、疼痛（47.0%）、过量用药（35.7%）和芬太尼（34.8%）。帖子最常涉及的是在疼痛管理中获取处方阿片类药物的挑战（37.4%）、阿片类药物政策（36.5%）以及使用阿片类药物的负面后果（32.2%）。定性分析得出了关于使用阿片类药物的潜在危险、阿片类药物使用障碍的治疗与康复以及在疼痛管理中获取处方阿片类药物的障碍等主题。
本研究揭示了TikTok上与阿片类药物相关的内容中存在两极分化的观点。两种主要立场，即非医疗使用阿片类药物的危险以及支持提供用于疼痛管理的处方阿片类药物，代表了全国范围内阿片类药物危机与慢性疼痛危机之间的紧张关系。TikTok拥有庞大的受众群体，这为传播阿片类药物教育、减少伤害策略以及阿片类药物使用障碍的治疗选择提供了一个机会，而在所分析的帖子中这些内容基本缺失。
