Maartje Boer

SMU AND ADHD-SYMPTOMS 129 5 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder- symptoms, Social Media Use Intensity, and Social Media Use Problems in Adolescents: Investigating Directionality Social media use (SMU), such as the use of Instagram and Snapchat, has increased over the last few years, especially among adolescents (Anderson & Jiang, 2018; Kloosterman & Van Beuningen, 2015). In 2018, 45% of the adolescents in the United States aged 13-17 reported being online almost constantly, while in 2015 this was 24% (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Although SMU enables adolescents to stay involved with peers and facilitates engagement in online social activities (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011; Ryan & Xenos, 2011), scholars have raised concerns that SMU may increase symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in youth (Cabral, 2011; Levine et al., 2007, 2012). However, it remains unclear which aspect of SMU would drive this association. To enhance our understanding of whether and how SMU and ADHD-symptoms are related, the present study distinguished between SMU intensity and SMU problems . SMU intensity refers to the frequency of use, whereas SMU problems are characterized by addiction-like behaviors, such as the displacement of other activities for SMU, or having conflicts with others due to their SMU (Griffiths et al., 2014; Van den Eijnden et al., 2016). Although adolescents with SMU problems typically report high SMU intensity (Van den Eijnden et al., 2018), high SMU intensity does not necessarily impair important life domains to the same extent as SMU problems. Cross-sectional research showed that adolescents who reported high SMU intensity, also reported more ADHD-symptoms (Barry et al., 2017; Levine et al., 2007). Other studies found associations between SMU problems and ADHD-symptoms (Andreassen et al., 2016; Mérelle et al., 2017; Van den Eijnden et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2013). These findings raise two questions. First, it remains unclear whether SMU intensity, SMU problems, or both relate to ADHD- symptoms, because existing studies examined SMU intensity and SMU problems separately. Nevertheless, these two types of SMU are correlated (Van den Eijnden et al., 2016, 2018). Although theoretically both types of SMU can be related to ADHD-symptoms, research has shown that SMU intensity and SMU problems can generate different outcomes over time (Van den Eijnden et al., 2018). Therefore, the first aim of the present study is to explore