The Rise of ADHD: Is Technology to Blame?

While media overload is associated with poorer attention spans, the ADHD-technology link has yet to be proven. Read about the latest research.

While technology does seem to have some effect on attention span, many researchers balk at saying outright that technology and media cause ADHD. “Technology does not cause ADHD,” says Jacquelyn Gamino, PhD, head of ADHD research at the University of Texas Dallas School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

While the research showing that kids who watch TV have poorer attention spans later in life is compelling, it’s difficult to establish that TV or video games were responsible for those problems. “Which caused which?” Dr. Gamino asks. Perhaps parents of restless kids are more likely to sit them in front of the TV to calm them down. Or perhaps children with ADHD gravitate toward over-stimulating media as a way of self-medicating. After all, many medications for ADHD are actually stimulants. The Web site of the National Institute of Mental Health does not list technology and media as probable causes of ADHD.

Researchers who dismiss the technology-ADHD link point to the fact that genetics plays a large role in the disorder. Kids with ADHD are more likely to have parents and siblings with the disorder. Scientists are finding that kids with ADHD have brains that are different from those of kids without the disorder. “People with ADHD have, by chance, ended up with combinations of genes that lower attention capacity,” says Chandan Vaidya, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University. These combinations of genes influence neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine that regulate attention. An NIMH study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2007 found that kids with ADHD who carry a particular version of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene have thinner brain tissue in the areas of the brain associated with attention. However, the brain tissue and ADHD symptoms tended to improve as the children grew older.

Environmental toxins may also contribute to ADHD. For example, prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol, and early childhood exposure to lead, may increase a child’s risk for developing the disorder. A recent analysis of data from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that children who were exposed to tobacco in utero were 2.4 times more likely to have ADHD than children who were not. The same study, which was conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, found that kids exposed during early childhood to lead, which is sometimes found in plumbing fixtures or paint in old buildings were 2.3 times more likely to have ADHD than those who were not exposed.

Pesticides are another possible culprit. Another NHANES analysis conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health found that children whose urine contained traces of organophosphate pesticides were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than other children. The more of the metabolites that were present, the more likely the child was to have ADHD.

It seems as if all sorts of bad things are being linked to ADHD. Rresearchers found that a Western fast-food diet (which some might consider toxic) full of highly processed, fried and refined foods was associated with a high risk of being diagnosed with the disorder. A "fast-food" diet tends to be higher in total fat, saturated fat, refined sugar and sodium than a diet based on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The study, which was conducted in Australia and examined the eating habits of 1,800 adolescents, was published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. But as with the media studies related to attention, it’s difficult to establish a cause-and-effect link. It is possible that kids with attention problems eat more fast food because it requires less attention. Or perhaps a fast-food diet is simply a marker of lower socioeconomic status and parental education levels, which have also been associated with ADHD.

With so many possible causes, what can parents do to limit the chance that their kids will develop the disorder? Some things, like genetics, can’t be controlled. But even if your child does have some of the genetic variants linked to ADHD, it doesn't mean he or she will definitely end up with ADHD. “The environment in which you live can make up for or exacerbate the problem,” Dr. Vaidya notes. Kids with ADHD who are given help with organization and planning, for instance, tend to function better in school than kids left to founder on their own.

It’s probably wise to limit your child’s time with screen media. While these media may not cause ADHD, they could very likely exacerbate a problem that’s already there — or simply lead to poorer attention overall. Researchers are still not sure what kind of media content, exactly, affects attention. Some video games are even considered useful, because they improve hand-eye coordination and critical thinking. To be on the safe side, try to limit young children’s exposure to fast-paced television shows and video games to less than two hours a day.