‘Problematic Internet Use’ Higher in People With ADHD

Problematic internet usage (PIU) was found to be higher in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to findings presented in a poster at the 2023 American Psychiatric Association annual meeting in San Francisco, California. 

“In this outpatient clinical sample, problematic internet use was higher in those with ADHD than those without,” authors noted in the abstract. “Predictors of PIU included younger age, greater symptom severity of depression, OCD, and impulsivity.”

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Patients of an outpatient psychiatric clinic aged 18 and older were interviewed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) to assess for current psychiatric disorders. Participants then completed an online survey detailing their internet use, impulsivity and executive function, and symptoms of ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression. Participant responses were weighed and measured using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale (BAARS-IV), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS). Participants also completed a neurocognitive battery, and the included sample was compared with people without ADHD using descriptive statistics and regression modeling. Researchers considered activities like excessive social media use, gambling, streaming, cyberchondria, gaming, and pornography viewing as PIU.

A total of 100 participants with a mean age of 44 years were included in the study; 61% were female, 92% were White, and 50% had an ADHD diagnosis. The group with ADHD had a higher proportion of males than the non-ADHD group (50% vs. 27%, p<.05) and contained more younger people (37.5 ±12.1 vs. 49.8±13.2, p<.001). Internet use was found to be higher in those with ADHD than those without ADHD, including higher rates of messaging (p<.01) and consuming sexual content (p<.05).

Patients with ADHD were also found to have more severe depression (p<.05), OCD (p<.05), impulsivity (p<.001), and executive dysfunction (p<.001). symptoms. PIU likelihood was found to be higher in those who were younger and had higher PHQ-9 scores. 

Reference
Mojgani JS, Rahat M, Patterson B, et al. Problematic internet use and ADHD. Poster presented APA 2023 Annual Meeting; May 20-24, 2023.