Adult ADHD
Visual Abstract
Adjustment, social skills, and self-esteem in college students with symptoms of ADHD
ADHD and Adjusting to College Life
Barbara Shaw-Zirt , Leelawatte Popali-Lehane, William Chaplin, Andrea Bergman
Summarized by:
August 5, 2023
study source
J Atten Disord
Feb 2005
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What they studied
How does ADHD affect how students adjust to college?
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What they found
Those with ADHD had lower self-esteem and more difficulties adjusting to college socially and academically.
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What this means
Self-esteem may play a role in making it more difficult for students with ADHD to adjust to college.
Adjustment, social skills, and self-esteem in college students with symptoms of ADHD
Objectives
While ADHD tends to get better over time, studies have shown that many with ADHD often continue suffering from some ADHD symptoms into adulthood.
ADHD can be common among college students, particularly if they had it as children. Adjusting to life in college can be difficult academically, personally, and socially.
This study wanted to examine how ADHD affects social life and adjustment to college.
Study Quote
Many studies of ADHD have shown that the problems associated with the disorder continue into adolescence and beyond for 10% to 60% of patients. The present study assesses several aspects of college adjustment, social skills, and self-esteem in a nonreferred sample of college students mee...
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Methods
The study compared 21 students with ADHD and 20 without ADHD in a case-control study. This allows researchers to see how those with ADHD may differ from those without ADHD.
What is a case control study
Study Quote
Twenty-one undergraduate students with symptoms of ADHD are compared to 20 students without significant ADHD symptoms, who match the ADHD students on age, gender, and grade point average.
Results
The data showed that those with ADHD were generally less well-adjusted to college. They were less likely to adjust academically, socially, and emotionally.
They also had lower self-esteem and rated their own social skills as more inadequate.
Further analysis of the data found that low self-esteem may partially mediate the relationship between ADHD and adjustment to college. This suggests that those with ADHD may have lower self-esteem, negatively affecting how well they adjust to college.
Interestingly, when researchers analyzed gender, they found that women with ADHD felt they had more negative social behaviors than those without ADHD. They were harsher on themselves.
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In the present study, the increase in negative social behaviors endorsed by females with ADHD symptoms compared to their non-ADHD female peers may be related to the tendency for females with ADHD symptoms to endorse more negative statements of themselves.
Study Quote
Students with ADHD symptoms show decreased functioning in several areas of college adjustment as well as lower levels of self-reported social skills and self-esteem.
Conclusions
These results confirm the negative effects of ADHD among college students.
One theory for the effects of ADHD in college students is that the challenges of college may make it harder for those with ADHD to cope with their symptoms:
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One possible explanation for this difference is that the present participants were higher functioning than clinical participants and were able to compensate for many of their difficulties, leading to a more positive outcome (i.e., college attendance). However, previous coping mechanisms may not continue to be as effective for students with ADHD symptoms when faced with the changing demands of college.
The analysis of self-esteem found that low self-esteem may play a fundamental role in the difficulties faced by those with ADHD in college.
Another study found a similar result, showing that self-esteem may play a role in test anxiety:
Study Quote
The results also suggest that the relation between ADHD and college adjustment is partially mediated by self-reported levels of self-esteem.