The association between ADHD symptoms and different dimensions of problematic use of social media among adolescents. Results from the “LifeOnSoMe”-study

Background. Over the last years, there has been a rise in ADHD symptoms among adolescents. Concerns have been raised about a potential link with problematic social media use and studies indicate a positive association between ADHD symptoms and problematic social media use. However, these studies have often assessed problematic use using crude or non-specific measures. The aim of the present study was to investigate this association using three novel dimensions of problematic social media use: subjective overuse, social obligations, and source of concern. Methods. The present study is based on a cross-sectional survey, the “LifeOnSoMe”-study (N = 3568), conducted in 2020 and 2021. Participants were senior high school students (mean age 17.3 years, 55.6% girls) in Bergen, Norway. Gender-specific linear regression analyses were performed with ADHD symptoms as the independent variable and three dimensions of problematic social media use (subjective overuse, social obligation and source of concern) as the dependent variable in separate analyses. The analyses were adjusted for subjective socioeconomic status and symptoms of depression. Results. ADHD symptoms were positively and significantly associated with all dimensions of problematic social media use in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions. The results from this study are in line with previous studies on the association between ADHD symptoms and problematic social media use. In addition, the conceptualization of problematic social media use applied in this study points to potential differences in strength of association between ADHD symptoms and various aspects of social media use.