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Kids

Study links heavy digital media use to behavioral problems in teens

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff

Text Level 9

08/15/2018

Word Count 944

New research suggests teens who spend more time toggling among a growing number of digital media platforms exhibit a mounting array of attention difficulties and impulse-control problems. Photo by: Dreamstime/TNS

Parents tend to worry about all of the online swiping, scrolling and streaming that consumes the adolescent mind.

New research supports that fear. It suggests that teens who spend more time toggling among digital media platforms exhibit an array of attention difficulties and impulse-control problems.

Investigators from the University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, and UC San Diego studied a group of more than 2,500 Los Angeles-area high school students. These students showed no evidence of attention challenges at the start. Researchers found that those who engaged in more prolific use of digital media over a two-year period reported a rising number of symptoms linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). People with ADHD have a hard time focusing and often feel restless and fidgety.

The association between digital media use and ADHD symptoms in teens was modest. However, it was clear enough that it could not be dismissed as a statistical fluke. On average, with each notch a teen climbed up the scale of digital engagement, his or her average level of reported ADHD symptoms rose by about 10 percent.

Inconclusive Evidence

The results do not show that heavy use of digital media causes ADHD symptoms.

Indeed, it's possible the relationship is reversed — that attention problems drive an adolescent to more online engagement.

However, at a time when 95 percent of adolescents own or have access to a smartphone and 45 percent said they are online "almost constantly," the new study raises concerns about the future of paying attention. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings come as mental health professionals are rethinking their understanding of ADHD, a psychiatric condition that was long thought to start in early childhood. ADHD is estimated to affect about 7 percent of children and adolescents.

However, the disorder is increasingly being diagnosed in older teens and adults. Whether its symptoms were missed earlier, developed later or are brought on by changing events is unclear.

2,587 Students Involved In Study

The research involved 2,587 sophomores and juniors attending public schools in Los Angeles County. It raises the possibility that, for some, ADHD symptoms are brought on or made worse by the stimulating, always-on digital offerings that are as close as the wireless device in their pocket.

"We believe we are studying the occurrence of new symptoms that weren't present at the beginning of the study," said USC psychologist Adam M. Leventhal. He is the study's senior author.

Leventhal and other scientists looked at the digital engagement of the students five times over a two-year period. They asked the students to report whether and how much they had engaged in 14 online activities. Those included checking social media sites, browsing the web, posting or commenting on online content, texting, playing games, video chatting and streaming TV or movies.

Four out of 5 students acknowledged "high frequency use" of at least one activity, including 54 percent who told researchers they checked social media "many times per day." Just over two-thirds engaged in high-frequency use of up to four online activities at some point during the study.

Showing Symptoms Of ADHD

Students were also asked whether they had experienced 18 ADHD symptoms, including problems with organization, completing work or staying still. If they acknowledged having any six of them, they were considered to be "ADHD symptom-positive." At various points in the study, anywhere from 4.8 percent to 6.9 percent of the subjects met this criteria.

Compared to the lightest users, the teens who engaged most intensively were more than twice as likely to show symptoms. Among the 495 students who reported no high-frequency media use at the start, 4.6 percent were categorized as symptom-positive at some point. Among the 114 who engaged in seven digital activities many times a day, 9.5 percent were seen to be symptom-positive during the follow-up. Then for the 51 students who reported high-frequency use of all 14 digital activities, 10.5 percent met the symptom criteria.

San Diego State University psychologist Jean M. Twenge has done research on teens and smartphone use. She was not involved in the new work. Twenge said the study suggests that if a teen who is a heavy digital user gives up his devices, he might drive down his risk of significant ADHD symptoms by as much as half.

"Most of the time, a lifestyle change that halves the risk of a poor outcome is more than worth undertaking," Twenge said.

The study authors acknowledged that some students may have had attention problems that did not show at the start but drove their use of digital media.

University of Michigan pediatrician Dr. Jenny Radesky wrote an editorial that accompanies the study. She wrote that the "always on" quality of digital media may rob the brain of the ability to rest and refresh. Teens longing for digital affirmation may lose the ability to tolerate boredom, she wrote.

Some Skeptical Of Possible Link

However, that may not fully explain the study's results. If digital engagement is displacing sleep and exercise, that would explain a child's slipping function, wrote Radesky.

Dr. Lawrence Diller, an ADHD specialist in Walnut Creek, California, expressed skepticism as well.

It is interesting to think that exposure to changing media information might make an adolescent inattentive, he said. "But I don't think that's what's happening here."

Diller said he suspected that kids spending time online are not interested in school or chores. So they've found a different outlet for their energies.

"It's seductive to think that TV and video games and social media change the brain," he added. "Maybe they do. But if that's the case, the brain can change back."

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Guidelines for creating and using a rubric to communicate expectations.

What is a rubric?

Rubrics are formal systems for deciding how to describe the quality of a variety of products, activities, processes, and behaviors. These descriptions may be used for formative feedback, determination of student grades, or data for assessment of performance on a specific student learning outcome.

Examples of materials that can be evaluated with a rubric

research reports

answers on essay exams

works of poetry or fiction

musical recitals

theatrical performances

athletic performance

individual and group presentations

poster presentations

participation as a member of a team or group

grant proposals

portfolios

Rubrics can be used in a variety of ways

communicate expectations about "what counts" as high-quality versus lower-quality work

reflection and self-assessment of one's work

assigning grades to student assignments and exams

guidelines to structure the feedback provided by supervisors of field experiences or internships

evaluating grant proposals, portfolios for award of prizes, application portfolios for prospective employees, etc.

assessment of specific student learning outcomes by departments for evaluation of curriculum and teaching strategies

Types of Rubrics

Holistic Rubric
Rubric consists of a set of descriptors that generate a single, global score for the entire work.

Analytic Rubric
Rubric is comprised of a set of focused holistic rubrics for specific components that will be evaluated independently. These components might be reported separately or they might be combined to create a global score that is used for determining a grade.

Components of a rubric

Performance Elements

Describe the major attributes of the work that will contribute to the overall evaluation.

Category Scale

Describe the method used to assign work to global categories or to assign points for the performance element. Points need not be assigned to categories unless you plan to combine the performance elements to compute an overall grade. If performance elements will be used as independent assessments of a specific learning outcome, category names without numerical values will be as useful as point values. If performance elements will be combined to compute an overall grade, elements can be weighted differently (or varying amounts of points assigned to categories) so that different elements can contribute more or less to the overall grade, based on their importance for the assignment.

Descriptors of the criteria used for classifying work or assigning points for an element

Describe the characteristics of the performance or work that must be present for the work to be assigned to a given level of achievement. These descriptions may include the following types of information:

Descriptions of the general characteristics of work assigned to each level of quality.

Specific, concrete examples or telltale signs of what to look for at each level of performance. These examples are useful for providing specific feedback to students without writing marginal notes. Examples may include characteristics that contribute to a higher rating (e.g., assertions are always supported with empirical evidence or a cited work) or common errors that lead to a lower rating (e.g., frequent errors in spelling or grammar).

Steps for constructing a rubric

1. Determine the elements or criteria that will be used to evaluate the work.

2. Identify the difference between good work and weaker work.

3. Describe the procedures used for making judgments (or assigning scores). Write clear descriptions of the types of work that will be assigned to each category or level of achievement. These descriptions will help users apply the rubric consistently over time, increasing the reliability and perceived fairness of the evaluation process.

Examples of scales describing levels of quality:

Below Expectations

Meets Expectations

Exceeds Expectations

Missing or Serious
Problems

Below Expectations

Meet Expectations

Excellent Work

Scale for evaluating behavioral elements in a rubric (in class, in group activities, as team members, during a presentation, etc.)

How do I develop the descriptors for the categories?

One strategy is to begin by describing the characteristics of the "ideal" and the "worst case." Intermediate examples can then be described by identifying the most common errors that make an example fall short of "ideal" or the redeeming qualities that make an example better than the "worst case."

Another strategy is to use samples of existing work. Sort the examples into three piles corresponding to three levels of quality - the "best" work, the "worst" work, and "intermediate" work. What are the common characteristics of the examples in the "best" pile? These are the descriptors for the top category. What are the typical problems seen in the "worst" work? These are descriptors that should be included for the lowest category.

Don't reinvent the wheel! Look at the descriptors used in an existing rubric and revise these to adapt them for your assignment. See the Examples of Rubrics page for links to a variety of rubrics.

Rubrics are fluid. Expect that after you develop your first rubric, you will think of ways to modify it the first time you use it to evaluate student work.

Use the rubric to give students feedback about their work

If you make notes on a copy of the rubric during grading, you can easily provide detailed feedback to your students by circling or highlighting components of the rubric that describe relevant qualities of the student's work that determined your decision to assign one category of quality instead of another. This strategy can save graders time. You are no longer writing the same marginal notation on paper after paper.

This is one reason why you might want to refine and edit the rubric. You may discover characteristics or errors that appear in student work that you didn't think about when the first rubric was developed. These can be added in the next version of the rubric.

Why use a rubric? How will using a rubric help me as a teacher?

1. Rubrics create a focus on instruction and learning.

2. Rubrics improve the clarity of the feedback provided to students - students get a clear description of their strengths and weaknesses.

3. Rubrics characterize the desired results/products of student work objectively - they give students clear instruction about the instructor's expectations for an assignment.

4. Rubrics are operational definitions for the standards used to evaluate performance - enables multiple graders to evaluate student work consistently and reliably.

5. Students can use a rubric to assess their own work - they can have a better idea about whether they are meeting expectations before they submit their work for formal evaluation; thus, rubrics develop competence in self-evaluation.

6. Rubrics engage students in the learning process - when students can describe exactly what is expected of them, they may be more strongly motivated to work to meet these expectations.

Template for creating a rubric

The below link is to a Word file that contains a template for a rubric including instructions for how to use and modify the template to meet individual grading needs. Instructors can download this file and modify it as needed to construct their own rubric: Rubric Template (doc).

How good is your rubric?

Want to evaluate the quality of your rubric (or one you are thinking about adopting)?

Bonnie Mullinix created A Rubric for Rubrics‌ to evaluate rubrics for Monmouth University.

Additional Information about rubrics
Additional websites with information about developing rubrics can be found on the "Web Sites on Rubric Development" web page. Updated: 03/31/15 ecr

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Guidelines for creating and using a rubric to communicate expectations. Rubrics are formal systems for deciding how to describe the quality of a variety of products, activities, processes, and behaviors. These descriptions may be used for formative feedback, determination of student grades, or data for assessment of performance on a specific student learning outcome.

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Larry Desguin - Summary 3 essential UDL ingredients

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Goals should be:
Student friendly
Written clearly
Is it context or method?
Relatable
Means should be included
Are flexible means are available
What's the purpose (why?, What?, How?)
Provide scaffolding
Relevant

Variability:
Engagement, representation, active expression
Teacher, teacher/student, student oriented
Is the rule, not the exception
Should be intentional planning for the variability in the your classroom

Context:
Change the context, not the student
Refers to the learning environment of the classroom
Includes: curriculum, assessments, materials, and methods
Is it alterable and relevant?
Proactively design and change context
Reflect to see if it worked
Scaffolding
Support
Use UDL guidelines

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When focusing on goals it is essential to share the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of the goal.
Variability is the process of making learning accessible to all types of students and learners. It is important to change the context, not the students, and if it's not alterable or relevant: LET IT GO!

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