The screens culture: impact on ADHD

Abstract

Children’s use of electronic media, including Internet and video gaming, has increased dramatically to an average in the general population of roughly 3 h per day. Some children cannot control their Internet use leading to increasing research on “internet addiction.” The objective of this article is to review the research on ADHD as a risk factor for Internet addiction and gaming, its complications, and what research and methodological questions remain to be addressed. The literature search was done in PubMed and Psychinfo, as well as by hand. Previous research has demonstrated rates of Internet addiction as high as 25% in the population and that it is addiction more than time of use that is best correlated with psychopathology. Various studies confirm that psychiatric disorders, and ADHD in particular, are associated with overuse, with severity of ADHD specifically correlated with the amount of use. ADHD children may be vulnerable since these games operate in brief segments that are not attention demanding. In addition, they offer immediate rewards with a strong incentive to increase the reward by trying the next level. The time spent on these games may also exacerbate ADHD symptoms, if not directly then through the loss of time spent on more developmentally challenging tasks. While this is a major issue for many parents, there is no empirical research on effective treatment. Internet and off-line gaming overuse and addiction are serious concerns for ADHD youth. Research is limited by the lack of measures for youth or parents, studies of children at risk, and studies of impact and treatment.

Electronic Media Use and Addiction among Youth in Psychiatric Clinic versus School Populations

“…The correlation between video gaming and ADHD has previously been noted in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, 23,24,28,29,34 and our study lends further weight to this association. Video games provide high levels of stimulation and rely on quick responses, with immediate feedback for success.…”

How French media have portrayed ADHD to the lay public and to social workers

“…Ten articles mentioned an excessive exposure to television and/or video games and this is consistent with the scientific literature (Landhuis, Poulton, Welch, & Hancox, 2007; Weiss, Baer, Allan, Saran, & Schibuk, 2011; Zimmerman & Christakis, 2007). For example Le Monde (3 September 2014) reported: “Several scientifically sound studies have demonstrated that excessive exposure to screens [TV or video games] is linked to attention deficit.” Four articles highlighted the possible risk linked to the excessive consumption of certain food (sugar, colouring, additives), but another article, in agreement with short-term studies (Wolraich, Wilson, & White, 1995), stated that sugar is not a significant risk.…”

Internet Activities During Leisure: A Comparison Between Adolescents With ADHD and Adolescents From the General Population

“…In the last 10 years, Internet activities have become an important source for leisure due to high-speed Internet access, new technology applications, and the recent possibility to use the Internet on mobile devices (Findahl, 2014;Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010;Yelland, 2013). To date, research on adolescents with ADHD has mainly focused on the potential risk of Internet activities, including the increased risk of problems in connection with online gaming and Internet addiction (Carli et al, 2012, Chou, Liu, Yang, Yen, & Hu, 2015Weiss, Baer, Allan, Saran, & Schibuk, 2011;Yen, Yen, Chen, Tang, & Ko, 2009). Concerns have also been raised about the detrimental impact of increased online gaming on grades at school (Chan & Rabinowitz, 2006), and reduced sleep (Engelhardt, Mazurek, & Sohl, 2013) among adolescents with ADHD.…”