ADHD and the Addictive Use of Digital Technology

By Gloria Arminio Berlinski, MSReviewed by Nicole Foubister, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine

Strong links exist between addictive use of digital technology and underlying psychiatric disorders, and mounting evidence indicates that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

occurs concurrently with excessive video gaming as well as Internet addiction.1 Newly published studies have specifically explored the association of ADHD symptoms with electronic screen

time exposure, internet gaming disorder, and addictive use of social media among university students and older adults.1-3

Higher education students are daily users of electronic devices for both academic activities and recreational time. A researcher at the University of Bordeaux in France, Ilaria Montagni PhD,

was the lead author of a 2016 article that described the potential link between high levels of screen time and self-perceived inattention and hyperactivity in graduate students. According

to Dr. Montagni, these young adults “spend an average of three hours per day on at least one digital device and they’re frequently exposed to 2 screens, such as laptops and smartphones, at

the same time.”

In their cross-sectional study, Dr. Montagni and fellow researchers asked approximately 4,800 French graduate students to self-report their time spent using a smartphone and computer or

tablet for working, studying, searching the Internet, social networking, playing video games, or watching television programs or movies. Global information on inattention and hyperactivity

over the previous six month period was ascertained through a questionnaire based on the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-Version 1.1).2