Much of digital media is associated with ADHD symptoms in young Americans



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Symptoms of ADHD can be difficult to maintain concentrated, increasing impulse and turmoil to the point of making life boring.

In a new study, American researchers found that young people used digital media a lot. like being on social media, sending messages, playing games, chatting, shopping and streaming music and video, seemed more likely to experience ADHD symptoms

The differences between those who used digital media The researchers did not know whether the use of the media was the cause of adolescents with ADHD symptoms.

Nevertheless, they mean we need to know if this type of media use can cause serious problems to everyone.

Such a Difference in Each Follow-up

The study followed 2500 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds from California who initially had no symptoms of ADHD. In the early days of Tudium, they responded to the frequency with which they used different types of digital media and how many different digital media they used.

Every six months for the next two years, the young people themselves considered a questionnaire how often they presented 18 different symptoms of ADHD on a scale of never or rarely to very often . In addition, they noted how much they used digital media

It turned out that young people who used a lot of digital media were more likely to suffer from ADHD throughout the period studied.

Researchers compared respondents On average, throughout the study, about 10% of very young people online reported symptoms of ADHD, while just over 4% of those who did not use it

– It is worth noting that more than 80% of students reported using digital media frequently, and the vast majority of them showed no symptoms of ADHD, writes Jessica Agnew. -But, who did not participate in the study, in a statement on the website of the Center for Scientific Media. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London

but Agnew-Blais believes that the study has the advantage of showing as much # 39; different digital activities that young people are doing today.

Høna or the egg?

Can it take a lot of time online and other digital media to provoke ADHD symptoms? He does not know the researchers in this study

As the researchers themselves invoke, the relationship was not particularly strong, but they still think that there are reasons for it. # 39; study.

Perhaps there are underlying characteristics in young people, such as genes and things in their habitat, that affect their online media and their symptoms.

– If Through several studies, we can find out if there is a possible causal link between media use and the symptoms of ADHD, and we can take steps to limit the use media, "says Adam Leventhal, a psychologist who led the study to CNN. Leventhal, who works at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, explains that the study provides simple information to teachers, parents, and those who take care of them. children and the health of young people. He's just with young people from California. A wider range could have been identified if there were geographical differences or if the same trend occurred in several places.

Another inside is that young people themselves have evaluated and noted whether they have symptoms of ADHD.

– Must interpret the results carefully

The latter can also be considered a force, says Dimitri Christakis, pediatrician and head of the Center for Health, Behavior and Child Development. At the Seattle Children's Research Institute

– Even without a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, the reduced attention span accompanies a worsening of the work both in children and adults, he told CNN

. Statement by Associate Professor Andy Przybylski at Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, also published at the Science Media Center

He thinks there is reason to be cautious in l & # 39; 39 interpretation of the results just because the media use and symptoms of ADHD in young people reported by themselves, and further because the relationship between the two is not so clear.

He therefore calls for studies with several participants n Leventhal et al: association of the use of digital media with subsequent symptoms of attention / hyperactivity disorder among adolescents. JAMA July 17, 2018

ADHD

ADHD means attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Symptoms can in most cases be understood as a neurological disorder that primarily means a turgid increase, impulsivity and difficulty in attention. In simple terms, the brain uses dopamine to regulate the transmission of signals from one nerve cell to another, but dopamine in the brain in people with ADHD is often severely reduced. Dopamine is important for our ability to learn that there is a link between one's own behavior and events in the environment. Dopamine is also involved in regulating the attention and behavior of the brain.

ADHD is divided into three subgroups according to the type of symptoms: predominantly hyperactive / impulsive ADHD, inattentive ADHD and ADHD combined

. , about ADHD

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