Teens who frequently use the cell phone would have a higher risk of developing an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder | Life Health

Madrid –

Teens who frequently use digital devices are twice as likely to exhibit symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California South (United States). ] The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, evaluated 2,600 adolescents for two years, focusing on the consequences for their mental health of using social networks, games video or video platforms.

new in this study is that previous research on this topic was made several years ago, when social networks, mobile phones, tablets and applications did not exist. New mobile technologies can provide a fast, high-intensity stimulation throughout the day, which has increased exposure to digital media well beyond what has been studied before, "said Ad Leventhal, professor of preventive medicine and psychology [19659002] See also: Why WhatsApp now warns you when a message is transmitted

In their study, scientists started with 4100 students aged 15 to 16 in ten high schools in Los Angeles County, United States, representing a balanced demographic and socio-economic status.The researchers focused on adolescents because this step marks a moment for the onset of ADHD and an access to s unlimited to digital technologies.

Then they screened up to 2,587 participants because some already had pre-existing symptoms of ADHD, with the goal of research focused on the appearance of new symptoms manifested during the two-year study.

Researchers asked students how often they used 14 popular digital media platforms. They ordered the frequency of media use in three categories: unused, medium and high. Then, they monitored the students every six months between 2014 and 2016.

In the end, they found that 9.5% of the 114 children who used half of the digital media platforms frequently and 10.5% Cent of the 51 children who used the 14 platforms often had symptoms of ADHD. In contrast, 4.6% of the 495 students who were not frequent users of any digital activity had symptoms of ADHD, a figure close to the rates of the disease in the general population.

"We Can not Confirm the Causal Link We can safely say that teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future" , said Leventhal. (I)