Scrolling into hope and anxiety: a qualitative study of how short-video platforms shape psychological adjustment among Chinese parents of children with autism.

BACKGROUND: Short-video platforms have become important sources of autism-related information, intervention guidance, and emotional support for parents of children with autism. However, algorithmic recommendations, selective presentation, and heterogeneous content may also heighten anxiety and complicate caregiving decisions. This study explored how short-video platforms shape the psychological adjustment of Chinese parents of children with autism. METHODS: This study employed an exploratory qualitative design. Twenty-four parents (13 mothers and 11 fathers) were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews lasting 45-75 min were conducted. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, with social support theory and social comparison theory used as complementary interpretive frameworks. RESULTS: Three themes and 12 subthemes were identified. Through audiovisual demonstrations, algorithmic recommendations, parent narratives, and longitudinal records of children's development, short videos provided informational support, emotional resonance, and hope. Conversely, decontextualized intervention advice, repeated recommendations, selective success narratives, urgency-based messaging, and commercial promotion contributed to informational confusion, comparisons of children's development and parental effort, self-doubt, and intervention-related anxiety. With increasing platform experience, parents recalibrated credibility judgments, comparison standards, emotional boundaries, and caregiving decisions by integrating online information with professional advice and their children's individual needs. CONCLUSION: Short-video platforms have both supportive and stress-inducing effects on the psychological adjustment of parents of children with autism. These effects are shaped by interactions among platform algorithms, content presentation, family circumstances, and parental interpretation. Psychological adjustment involved recalibrating credibility, comparison, emotional responses, and caregiving decisions. Professionals should strengthen parents' information-evaluation skills and digital health literacy, while platforms should improve content moderation, disclose creators' qualifications and commercial interests, and regulate promotional content.