Online Huffington Post Life article regarding Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and how mobile phone use study ignores the differences between causation and correlation

Graye, Sarah Marie

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Kent Academic RepositoryFull text document (pdf)Copyright & reuseContent in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated allcontent is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of researchThe version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.EnquiriesFor any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: researchsupport@kent.ac.ukIf you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.htmlCitation for published versionGraye, Sarah_Marie  (2018) No, Using Your Phone Won't Cause ADHD.   Huffington Post .  pp. 1-4.DOILink to record in KARhttps://kar.kent.ac.uk/85810/Document VersionPublisher pdfLIFENo, Using Your Phone Won't Cause ADHDA study ignores the differences between causation and correlationBy Sarah Marie GrayeIndie-published novelist exploring her adult diagnosis of ADHD both in her novels and in life20/07/2018 08:59am BSTD3SIGN VIA GETTY IMAGESTIME reports that teens who are constantly on their phonesmay be at risk of ADHD. But their headline ignores thedifferences between causation and correlation. Blink and youmiss it, but at the start of the second paragraph, the TIMEarticle admits the research “could not prove causation”. Andthis is everything.With cause and effect, one action directly causes another.Without this, they are merely two things that appear to happenat the same time. Like murder and ice cream. Murder rates inthe US rise at the same as ice cream sales. Does ice creamcause people to commit murder? No, the relationship betweenthe two is a statistical coincidence – more likely to be based onboth increasing in good weather (but even this can’t bescientifically proven).Go and have a look at the research published in JAMA thatTIME is referring to, and you’ll see the findings are simply an“association” between ADHD and phone use. So what doesassociation mean?Well, it could be purely coincidental – as with homicides andfrozen desserts. Or it could mean that increased phone useleads teens to exhibit symptoms similar to ADHD but not tothe level that would result in a diagnosis. Or it could meanthose who have undiagnosed ADHD spend more time on theirphones than others – the ADHD driving the phone usage, notthe other way round.And this lack of causation is something TIME discusses, butonly after its hyperbolic headline has done the damage. Andwhat it doesn’t cover is that it could all mean absolutelynothing.The study asked those taking part to “self-report” any increasein symptoms. Self-reporting is known to produce confirmationbias in its subjects. If you are told an activity might make youless attentive, you look specifically for that inattentiveness.And if you’re looking, you’re more likely to find it – even if it’snot there.Also, the subjects were teenagers. They’re at an age known tobe susceptible to peer pressure. If they believe they are meantto experience an increase in such symptoms, they might reportthem even if they don’t. Or it may be eagerness to please. Theythink that’s what the researchers want to hear, so they report itto make them happy.So what does the research paper itself say?It finds a “modest association between higher frequency ofdigital media use and subsequent symptoms of ADHD”. Butmost importantly, it states that “further research is needed todetermine whether this association is causal”.Until further research is carried out and causation is foundbetween digital media usage and ADHD, it’s safe to say usingyour phone is as likely to give you ADHD as it is to give youcancer.Suggest a correctionMORE: HEALTH MOBILE PHONES ADHDRELATED.. .Accepting My ADHD Diagnosis Was A Lesson InAbleismNumber Of Kids With ADHD Treated With Medication'Levelled Off'Could My Child Have ADHD? Signs, Symptoms AndAdvice For ParentsStudy: Chemicals ThatMultiply Children's Risk OfADHD Is VirtuallyEverywhere00:40Sarah Marie GrayeIndie-published novelist exploring her adult diagnosis of ADHD both in her novels and in lifeBEFORE YOU GO

No, Using Your Phone Won't Cause ADHD: A study ignores the differences between causation and correlation

https://kar.kent.ac.uk/85810/1/SMGraye-NoUsingPhoneWontCauseADHD-HuffPostLife.pdf

No, Using Your Phone Won't Cause ADHD: A study ignores the differences between causation and correlation

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