# Digital addiction and its relationship with cognitive function among children - A cross sectional study

## TL;DR

This study finds that higher digital addiction in children is linked to lower cognitive function, based on survey data from hospital patients.

## Contribution

The study establishes a significant negative correlation between digital addiction and cognitive function in children using a validated scale.

## Key findings

- Digital addiction scores were negatively correlated with cognitive function scores (r = -0.57, p < 0.001).
- Higher digital addiction was associated with lower cognitive performance in children aged 9-17.

## Abstract

Modern children exhibit a significantly greater reliance on technology compared to earlier generation. Therefore, it is of interest
to evaluate the digital addiction and its effect on cognitive function among children. A Cross sectional study using convenience
sampling technique was used to collect data from 419 children aged 9-17 years from pediatric ward and Out Patient Department (OPD) in a
tertiary care hospital. The analysis included 419 participants and examined the relationship between digital addiction, measured by the
Digital Addiction scale for children (DASC), and cognitive function measured by the PedsQL Cognitive function scale. The mean DASC score
was 61.41 ± 18.51, and the mean PedsQL score was 388.49 ± 138.17. A statistically significant negative correlation was found
between DASC and PedsQL scores (r = -0.57, p < 0.001), indicating Digital addiction has negative impact on cognitive function of
children. This suggests that as digital addiction increases, cognitive function tends to decrease.