Today it’s difficult to find teenagers who don’t have their eyes glued to a cell phone. They’re texting, checking social media, playing games, or doing just about anything other than talking to other teens—even if they’re sitting across the table from one another. Researchers from California universities wanted to find out if the digital media today has a measurable impact on the behavior of high school students. Here’s what they did.

The researchers recruited over 3,000 students in 10th grade to participate in a two-year study of digital media use and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The teens reported their use of all forms of digital media including phones, computers, and gaming devices. They were tested every six months for symptoms related to ADHD using standardized tests.

Researchers found that as the use of digital media increased, so did the symptoms of ADHD. The type of activity didn’t matter: texting, checking social media, playing games, listening to music. The more time they spent on digital activities, the more ADHD symptoms. That doesn’t mean they had ADHD; they exhibited symptoms.

Before you take away your teen’s media devices, let me add that this was not a perfect study; studies that rely on surveys and questionnaires have their issues. Still, it does indicate that as reliance on digital devices increases, attention to the world may decrease, and that’s no surprise. How is this related to Paula’s high school reunion? I’ll wrap it up on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

References: JAMA. 2018;320(3):255-263. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.8931.