Teenagers stuck on phones risk a "modest" increase in ADHD … – Brinkwire



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A new study released Tuesday indicates that digital overload could be linked to a "modest" but significant increase in new ADHD behaviors, providing a warning to the person with hyperactivity. The findings from the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 teenagers in Los Angeles who responded to survey questions over a two-year period – making it one of the largest and most most dangerous. The more social media, video streaming, text messaging, music downloads, or online chats that they interact with, the more likely they were to report symptoms such as difficulty organizing and completing tasks, or difficulties to remain motionless.

About 10 percent of young people who reported using digital media platforms routinely showed new ADHD symptoms during the study period, the report said. 02] In contrast, 4.6 percent of students who were not frequent users of any digital activity showed symptoms of ADHD.

The researchers warned that the increase in ADHD symptoms was "modest" and at least a part of the effect could be more, since the study was observational in nature and that # 39; it was based on the survey responses of the teens themselves, the researchers claimed that they could not prove that the use of smart phones actually caused symptoms of ADHD

. more research because "it was a statistically significant badociation," said Adam Leventhal, professor of preventive medicine and psychology at the University of Southern California.

"We can confidently say that adolescents who were exposed to higher levels were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future."

Previous studies have shown that ADHD , a psychiatric disorder involving persistent difficulties with attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, affect approximately seven percent of youth in the United States and may be on the rise in some populations.

Previous studies examining the effect of watching television and playing video games revealed slight increases in ADHD among children.

According to Jessica Agnew-Blais, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King & # 39; s College London, the authors have been "justifiably cautious not to over-interpret "their results.

Evaluate the frequency of ADHD symptoms, so that it remains unclear whether the relatively small changes in the frequency of ADHD symptoms during these two years disrupt or hinder daily life, "she said. declared

. the use of digital media, and the vast majority of these students do not have high symptoms of ADHD. "

Another expert who was not involved in the tudy, Andy Przybylski, badociate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University, described the research as" interesting " but "tentative."

"The study is a proof of concept that tells us that we need very large samples We design future studies because the possible effects are extremely small," he said.

Future studies on the subject should move away from self-reported responses and include clinical diagnoses and external measurements of device use.] [ad_2]
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