(PS1-62) ADHD Symptoms Associated with Digital Hoarding in College Students

Friday, November 15, 2024

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM EST

Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown

Author(s)

Jennifer Nelson, M.A.

Graduate Student
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina, United States

Co-Author(s)

ZW

Zachary Wilde, M.A.

Graduate Student
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States
NZ

Nikki Zolli, M.A.

Graduate Student
The University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Will H. Canu, Ph.D.

Professor
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina, United States

Abstract Text: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomology, specifically inattention (IA), has been shown to co-occur with hoarding disorder (HD; Morein-Zamir et al., 2022; Lynch et al., 2015). In today’s ever-evolving “digital world,” people can create, accumulate, and store mass amounts of “items” (e.g., digital media), and emerging research suggests that HD may manifest in this digital domain (Oravec, 2018). Digital hoarding (DH) is a recently proposed phenomenon conceptualized by marked distress or impairment associated with accumulating numerous forms of digital media (e.g., files, photos, and videos; Oravec, 2018; Sedera & Lokuge, 2018). In the current study, 849 undergraduate students were recruited across eight universities in the U.S. Participants completed an ADHD symptoms checklist based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition text revision, APA, 2022), and a version of the Personal Digital Behaviors Questionnaire (PDBQ; Neave et al., 2024) evaluating two facets of DH (accumulation and difficulty discarding) and digital file deletion behaviors. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised [OCI-R]; Foa et al., 2002), general anxiety (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale [DASS-21]; Henry & Crawford, 2005), and anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 [ASI-3]; Taylor et al., 2007) were also measured. It was hypothesized that ADHD symptoms of IA would predict DH behaviors independent of OCD symptoms, general anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the relationship between these constructs; block one indicated the three predictors (OCI-R, DASS-21, and ASI-3) explained 27% of the variance (R^2 = .27, F[3, 845] = 106.24, p < .001) in PDBQ scores. Block two added ADHD scores as additional putative predictors, and explained a significant amount of additional variance, Δ R^2 = 0.01, F(2, 843) = 6.28, p = .002, with IA symptoms also figuring as a significant predictor (β = 0.12, p < .001). These results support the a priori hypothesis and align with prior research showing a connection between HD and ADHD symptoms of IA. Accordingly, college students with ADHD symptoms of IA may be at increased risk for DH behaviors and added stress and anxiety (Sweeten et al., 2018), which could exacerbate impairment above ADHD alone. The higher levels of DH seen in individuals with ADHD symptoms of IA may be tied to distractibility (Mataix-Cols, D., & Fernández de la Cruz, 2018) and emotion dysregulation (Surman et al., 2013), as these symptoms may lead to an increase in hoarding behaviors and underscore both ADHD and DH (Morein-Zamir et al., 2022). Given that advances in technology (i.e., personal data storage capacity) continue to evolve, the prevalence of DH may only increase, suggesting a new pitfall for those with and without ADHD, alike, that should be clinically assessed and further studied.