{"id":10289,"date":"2018-07-23T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=10289"},"modified":"2018-07-21T08:42:18","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T12:42:18","slug":"adhd-gaget-use-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/07\/adhd-gaget-use-connection.html","title":{"rendered":"ADHD and Digital Media Use: Is There a Connection?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-10295\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2018\/07\/ipad-820272_1280-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"ipad-820272_1280\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>Show me a teen that isn&#8217;t on a device and well&#8230;is there such a thing?\u00a0Most teens are on their devices more than they talk to live people. Is\u00a0this simply annoying behavior to those of us trying to get their attention, or is it creating problems that could be more serious? According to a new study, spending time on digital media platforms\u00a0could be doing more than grabbing a teen&#8217;s\u00a0attention. It could be creating attention problems.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/2687861\">study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associatio<\/a>n concluded that there is an association between the development of ADHD symptoms and high frequency digital media use\u00a0among\u00a0teens who were followed in a study. Researchers tracked the students for a two year period and found a significant, but modest, association between high frequency digital use (many times a day) and the development of ADHD symptoms. Considering the numerous platforms and devices teens have at their finger tips, and the fact that the nonprofit Common Sense Media group report that\u00a0\u00a0teens spend about one-third of their day &#8212; nearly nine hours &#8212; using online media, we need to further understand the impact of such use.<\/p>\n<p>To note, the study is based on self-report data, not direct observations. And when two things are associated, it doesn&#8217;t mean one causes the other. The study isn&#8217;t saying that digital media use causes ADHD, but it sure raises the question if high usage is putting teens at risk. It\u00a0gives us an idea of how digital media use could be impacting our children\u00a0and their brains. And if some kids can be triggered with ADHD like symptoms due to high digital media use, that is something researchers need to\u00a0continue to study.<\/p>\n<p>Whether a teen has a diagnosis or not, having a shorter\u00a0attention span is a problem. The teen who is\u00a0constantly seeking something more interesting and not focusing on the here and now\u00a0will have problems in school and life. Being easily distracted can get you in trouble and contribute to missing information needed to function well in life.<\/p>\n<p>So when studies like this point to potential problems with our kids or teens, parents need to be proactive.The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aap.org\/en-us\/about-the-aap\/aap-press-room\/Pages\/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Announces-New-Recommendations-for-Childrens-Media-Use.aspx\">American Academy of Pediatrics recommends guidelines<\/a> to parents. Children over age 6 should have limits on media use, media free times such as no use during meals should be instituted in the home, and children\u00a0should be monitored for their use. Parents of teens need to be actively involved discussing appropriate sites, prosocial behavior, misinformation, safety, persuasiveness of messages, and how digital media use impacts their cognitive and social development. Regular discussions about what is viewed and how it shapes thinking are\u00a0also important.<\/p>\n<p>While it takes time to\u00a0monitor digital use, it is worth the effort in terms of helping your child become a responsible netizen and develop brain health.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Show me a teen that isn&#8217;t on a device and well&#8230;is there such a thing?\u00a0Most teens are on their devices more than they talk to live people. Is\u00a0this simply annoying behavior to those of us trying to get their attention, or is it creating problems that could be more serious? According to a new study,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[808,4243,2959,3805,96,4242],"class_list":["post-10289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-adhd","tag-attention","tag-brain-health","tag-digital-media","tag-distraction","tag-teens-and-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ADHD and Digital Media Use: Is There a Connection?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/07\/adhd-gaget-use-connection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ADHD and Digital Media Use: Is There a Connection?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Show me a teen that isn&#8217;t on a device and well&#8230;is there such a thing?\u00a0Most teens are on their devices more than they talk to live people. Is\u00a0this simply annoying behavior to those of us trying to get their attention, or is it creating problems that could be more serious? According to a new study,&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/07\/adhd-gaget-use-connection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-23T10:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-21T12:42:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/07\/ipad-820272_1280-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ADHD and Digital Media Use: Is There a Connection?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/07\/adhd-gaget-use-connection.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ADHD and Digital Media Use: Is There a Connection?","og_description":"Show me a teen that isn&#8217;t on a device and well&#8230;is there such a thing?\u00a0Most teens are on their devices more than they talk to live people. Is\u00a0this simply annoying behavior to those of us trying to get their attention, or is it creating problems that could be more serious? 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10289"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10296,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10289\/revisions\/10296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}