Pathological Internet Use, Aggression, and Cyberbullying in Children and Adolescents With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Editorial Comment

he purpose of the study by Yasin et al1 was to assess the relationship between pathological internet use, aggression, and cyberbullying in children and dolescents diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It was thought to help identify factors that increase the risk of victimization of individuals with ADHD. The study found a median of 14 hours/week duration of internet use in the ADHD group, i.e. double that in the control group, a 1 SD higher internet addiction score, and a 0.61 correlation between internet use and internet addiction score, only in the ADHD group. Also, many more participants in the ADHD group reported being cyberbullied at least once (43% vs 13%), but there was no significant difference in the rate of self-reported active cyberbullying. Finally, the median parent-reported aggression score was four times as high in the ADHD group than in the healthy control group, but it was not systematically related to self-reported cyberbullying or cyber victimization.