The use of digital media increases the risk of ADHD symptoms in young people

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD July 18, 2018

According to a new study published this week in JAMA, the increased use of digital media among adolescents may increase their risk of develop symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

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Leading Psychologist Adam Leventhal, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California explained that C & Is the first study that combines the risk of ADHD and the modern use of digital media among adolescents, adding that although studies link the use of digital media and depression among adolescents, this study shows that the excessive use of digital media is not good for the mental health of these young people putting them to laugh

An excess of game shows and video has been badociated with an increase in symptoms of ADHD, but little has been explored regarding ADHD and the use of tablets, smartphones and computers. Jenny Radesky, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan, in an editorial accompanying the main study, wrote that these media have evolved very quickly and that there has been little information about the The impact they have on young users. She explains in her editorial that each of these new platforms takes days or weeks to reach millions of users. "Angry Birds has reached 50 million users in 35 days.Go Pokémon has reached the same number in 19 days." She said: "… it's good to finally have some evidence on the long-term impact that this has on children … I think it shows that something is happening, that there is an badociation, even if small, between these types [s] media use habits throughout the day with emergent inattention, difficulty concentrating, withstanding distraction, controlling your impulses. "At Los Angeles County Schools over a two-year period. At the beginning of the study, adolescents had no symptoms of ADHD. At the end of the study, teens who used digital media had more symptoms of ADHD than those who did not.

To test the use of ADHD, researchers used a standard ADHD questionnaire where nine ADHD symptoms were badessed. inattention. Adolescents with six or more symptoms in either of the two categories were considered to have ADHD symptoms according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

In both years, researchers studied young people. every six months and noted the frequency of their participation in 14 different types of activities online. These online activities included text messages, social media sharing, and music and video streaming. Participants were asked to rate how often they participated in these online activities: 0, 1 to 2 times a week, 1 to 2 times a day and several times a day. Those who used one of these activities several times a day were considered high frequency users.

They noted that almost half of the participants viewed social media and texted several times a day. They found that students who frequently used at least six of the 14 online activities were more likely to develop symptoms of ADHD. In their participating population, 51 students often took part in all 14 online activities. Of these 51, 10.5% showed symptoms of ADHD. Of the 114 students who frequently used 7 of 14 activities, 9.5% had ADHD symptoms. On the other hand, among the 495 adolescents who did not use online activities frequently, only 4.6% had symptoms of ADHD. Leventhal says that this shows that the risk of developing ADHD symptoms is twice as high among frequent digital media users in teens.

Leventhal explains that for this badysis, researchers take into account other factors such as family income, race, and ethnicity. health conditions, etc. that may have influenced the results. He warned that this study is an badociation study and does not mean that being active online causes ADHD in adolescents. He explained that the symptoms of ADHD are not the same as those of ADHD. According to the authors of the study, ADHD was not diagnosed by the study's authors.

In her editorial, Ms. Radesky says that the greatest number of participants from different backgrounds is the highlight of this study. This gives a pretty clear picture, she said. Other factors that must be taken into account according to it are the information on the sleep of participants as well as family dynamics and parental participation. Disturbed sleep can increase the risk of ADHD symptoms, she says. In addition, parents who spend more time on their phones tend to raise children who do the same thing as she said.