ADHD and Screen Media Katlin Burley and Jose Campos University of Texas at San Antonio

Background  DSM-IV definition of ADHD & Definition of “Screen Media”  Specifically looking at screen media usage and ADHD prevalence/awareness  Previous Studies  Current views and controversies

The Research Question(s)  Is there a relationship between awareness of ADHD and rates of ADHD diagnosis?  Does screen media have an impact on the opinions and incident rates of ADHD diagnoses in children?  How does media impact the developing brain?  Is there a relationship between number of hours of screen media ad attention deficits?

Overview of the Research  Hypotheses: -Increased awareness of ADHD leads to higher rates of ADHD diagnosis. -Increased screen media usage is positively correlated with increased ADHD diagnoses. -Exposure to screen media at a younger age increases the likelihood of attention deficits later in life.  General Social Survey variables: -Hours per day watching TV -What does R know about ADHD? (verbatim) -ADHD Real?

GSS Variable 1 Summary Statistics NAP: No Answer: 12 Valid Cases: 906 Mean:16.898Std.Dev.:24.675N:918 Median:7.000Variance: Missing: % confidence interval +/- mean: to % confidence interval +/- mean: to

GSS Variable 2 Mean:2.971Std.Dev.:2.353N:33855 Median:2.000Variance:5.538Missing: % confidence interval +/- mean: to % confidence interval +/- mean: to 2.996

Research Design and Methods  Looked at previous studies and the variables compared to assess what variables have a positive correlation with attentional deficits  Conducted supplemental research in order to draw conclusions about the data observed in analyzed studies and GSS variables  Controls  Tests Used to Assess Attentional Deficits -ACTeRS -Barkley’s (1991) Restricted Academic Situation coding system (Observ) -Distractibility/Hyperactivity scale (DI) of the Parenting Stress Index, Third edition -Stroop Color Word Test -Self-Report diary (by students) -Parent report

The Results The amount of television a child views is significantly related to teacher ratings of attentional difficulties (ACTeRS) However…. There was no significant relationship found between the amount of time a child watches television and : -Parent ratings of attentional difficulty behaviors -Classroom observations of attentional difficulty behaviors -Performance on standardized tests  Type of show did not relate to attentional outcome variable  Stroop results support the hypothesis that TV induces a state of arousal, an expectation of entertainment, and subsequent boredom in a less constantly stimulating classroom - So ADHD is more behavior related than cognitive processing?

Canonical Correlation Between Attention Variables and Television Viewing Set 1 Sample Size: 70 Fourth and Fifth Grade Students (Levine and Waite)

Canonical Correlation Between Attention Variables and Television Viewing Set 2 Sample Size: 70 Fourth and Fifth Grade Students (Levine and Waite)

Data Tables ACTeR S ObservStroopDITVTimeActAd ACTeRS Observ Stroop DI TVTime ActAd1.00 Mean SD** Min Max VariableCanonical Loading Standardized Coefficient Set 1 ACTeRS Observ Stroop DI Set 2 TVTime ActAd Represents Charts on Slides 7 and 8 Sample Size: 70 Fourth and Fifth Grade Students Standard Deviation on chart: SD** (Levine and Waite)

Research Questions Revisited  Is there a relationship between awareness of ADHD and rates of ADHD diagnosis?  Does screen media have an impact on the opinions and incident rates of ADHD diagnoses in children?  How does media impact the developing brain?  Is there a relationship between number of hours of screen media ad attention deficits?

Conclusion Overall, Screen media has been shown to be positively correlated with attention deficits and ADHD. Hypotheses -Increased awareness of ADHD leads to higher rates of ADHD diagnosis. SUPPORTED -Increased screen media usage is positively correlated with increased ADHD diagnoses. SUPPORTED -Exposure to screen media at a younger age increases the likelihood of attention deficits later in life. SUPPORTED  Significance to the field

Next Steps  Further Research  Parts of the research that need to be refined or repeated

Bibliography  American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.  Christakis, D.A., et al. Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics 2004; 113:  Courage, M.L., and Howe, M.L., (2010). To watch or not to watch: Infants and toddlers in a brave new electronic world. Developmental Review, 30,  Krosnick, Jon, (1999) A Survey Research, Annual Review of Psychology. Retrieved from  Levine, L.E., and Waite, B.M. (2000). Television viewing and attentional abilities in fourth and fifth grade children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21(6),  McLeod, Jane D., Fettes, Danielle, Jensen, Peter (2002) Public Knowledge and Attitudes about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Retrieved from Subject+Index/  Ray, M., Jat, R.K., (2010). Effect of electronic media on children. Indian Pediatrics, 47,  Swing, E.L., et al. (2010). Television and video game exposure and the development of attention problems. Pediatrics, 126(2),