ABSTRACT
Children’s media environment has changed considerably in the past decades. It has become more fast-paced, violent, and arousing, and has been targeting children at an ever younger age (e.g., Allen et al., 1998; Koolstra et al., 2004). During these same decades, the frequency of the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among children has also significantly increased, from about 1.5 percent in the 1970s to 1980s to about 8.5 percent in the 1990s and early 2000s (Akinbami et al., 2011; Kelleher et al., 2000). ADHD is a behavioral disorder characterized by elevated levels of inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that (a) are age-inappropriate, (b) pervasive, and (c) impair a child’s cognitive and social-emotional functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). A widely held concern related to these parallel occurring changes is whether there is a rela-
tionship between children’s media use and the development of ADHD. Knowledge of this relationship is essential not only for academics, but also for parents, educators, and society at large. Only if we know whether, and (if so) how and why, media influence children, can we develop tailored prevention and intervention strategies. A recent literature search into the relationship between children’s media use and ADHD or ADHD-related behavior indicated a rapid increase of studies published between the 1970s and 2011 (see Nikkelen et al., 2013). The results of these studies are however very inconsistent. Some have reported a positive relationship between media use and ADHD, whereas others have found no relationship at all (for similar observations, see Kirkorian et al., 2008; Schmidt and Vandewater, 2008). The aim of this chapter is to review the literature on the relationship between media use and
ADHD or ADHD-related behavior. In the next sections, we will first identify the most important hypotheses on the relationship between media use, ADHD, and ADHD-related behavior. Then, we will review the main results of the empirical studies that address the relationship between media use and ADHD and the three symptoms of ADHD: inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Finally, we will discuss some limitations in previous literature and present some suggestions for future research.
