Mediation of Parental Aggravation in the Association Between ADHD Severity and Electronic Media Use: A National Survey of Children’s Health Study

Objective: To determine whether the association between ADHD severity and electronic media use was mediated by parental aggravation. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis from the 2016 to 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) involving children ages of 3 to 17 years with parent-reported ADHD ( n = 5,930). Path analyses were used to model the relationships between ADHD severity with parental aggravation (PA) as a mediator, and electronic device (ED) and television (TV) use as outcomes, controlling for covariates. Results: Parental aggravation mediated the relationship between ADHD severity and ED use and TV use (indirect effects: β = .02, p < .001; β = .01, p = .004). When stratified by age, the mediation effect between ADHD and ED use remained significant for adolescents and school-age children, and mediation between ADHD and TV use remained significant only for adolescents. Conclusion: These findings suggest a need to develop targeted interventions to address PA and manage excessive electronic media use in children with moderate/severe ADHD.