A study by Dutch researchers found that people with higher levels of ADHD symptoms were more likely to engage in problematic social media use and problematic gaming. However, this association is not mediated by cognitive deficits underlying ADHD, such as inhibitory control deficits, reward sensitivity, or temporal processing deficits. The paper is addictive behavior.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interfere with daily functioning. It usually begins in childhood but continues into adulthood in many people. In most cases, children are first diagnosed when they begin school and their ADHD symptoms become inconsistent with their school roles.
Research shows that certain cognitive deficits may underlie ADHD symptoms. One of the core cognitive deficits associated with ADHD is impaired inhibitory control, which means difficulty suppressing automatic or inappropriate responses. This may manifest as interrupting others, acting without thinking, or resisting distractions.
Another important feature of ADHD is altered sensitivity to reward, with individuals strongly preferring immediate rewards over delayed and larger rewards. Defects in temporal processing are also common, making it difficult to accurately perceive and estimate time intervals. As a result, people with ADHD tend to have trouble planning, time management, and waiting.
Lead author Luka Todorovic and colleagues point out that according to the triple pathway model, ADHD symptoms arise from three neuropsychological pathways: the inhibitory control pathway, the reward sensitivity pathway, and the temporal processing pathway.
Alterations in these pathways lead to the types of cognitive impairments described above. The researchers wanted to investigate whether these cognitive deficits could explain the association between ADHD symptoms and behavioral addictions, such as problematic social media use or problematic gaming.
The study involved 111 emerging adults with an average age of 21 years. Fifty-three percent of participants were of European descent, 41% were Asian, and 84% of the total sample was female. Because some participants failed certain attention checks, the authors ultimately analyzed 109 participants’ data for associations with problematic social media use and 87 participants’ problematic gaming data.
Study participants completed self-report assessments of problematic social media use (Social Media Disorder Scale), problematic gaming (Internet Gaming Disorder Scale), ADHD symptoms (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale), inhibitory control (Inhibition subscale of the Teen Executive Function Inventory), reward sensitivity (Delay Discounting subscale of the Quick Delay Questionnaire), and time processing (Personal Time Span Scale). They also underwent behavioral assessments of inhibitory control, reward sensitivity, and temporal processing by completing computerized cognitive tasks.
Results showed that 41% of study participants had elevated levels of ADHD symptoms. 27% of participants had symptoms of problematic social media use and 9% had symptoms of problematic gaming.
As expected, those with higher levels of ADHD symptoms tended to self-report higher levels of assessed cognitive deficits (inhibitory control, reward sensitivity, and temporal processing). However, these associations were not present when computerized behavioral measures of these deficits were used.
Those with more severe ADHD symptoms tended to report higher levels of problematic social media use and problematic gaming symptoms. However, contrary to the researchers’ expectations, these associations were not mediated by the three cognitive deficits assessed: reward sensitivity, inhibitory control, and temporal processing.
Exploratory analyzes revealed that deficits in inhibitory control and temporal processing may mediate the association between hyperactivity/impulsivity (a specific aspect of ADHD symptoms) and problematic social media use.
“These findings indicate that cognitive deficits alone are unlikely to be responsible for problematic digital media use and that PSMU (problematic social media use) and PG (problematic gaming) may rely in part on different mechanisms. Inhibitory control deficits may be particularly relevant to coping in individuals with co-occurring ADHD symptoms and PSMU,” the study authors concluded.
This study contributes to scientific knowledge regarding the neuropsychological basis of ADHD. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow causal inferences to be drawn from the results.
The paper, “ADHD Symptoms and Problematic Digital Media Use in Emerging Adults: Exploring the Role of Cognitive Deficits as Mediators,” was authored by Luka Todorovic, Janina Baumer, and Helle Larsen.
