First-Year GPA and Academic Service Use Among College Students With and Without ADHD

Objective: ADHD is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that typically results in persistent academic difficulties over time. Although most colleges offer support services, students often do not use the available services or those to which they are entitled. The present study examined predictors of academic performance among college students with and without ADHD. In addition, the rate, predictors, and outcomes of academic service use were explored. Methods: A series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) and regression analyses were conducted using SPSS v. 21 ® software. Results: First year college students with ADHD earned significantly lower grade point averages (GPAs) relative to students without ADHD. Additionally, ADHD combined with other disorders, but not ADHD alone, predicted higher rates of service use relative to students without ADHD. Finally, the findings suggest that typically available academic services are not independently related to GPA among first-year college students with or without ADHD. Conclusion: This study replicates previous work demonstrating significantly lower GPAs among a rigorously defined sample of students with ADHD relative to students without ADHD. Second, this study indicates that traditional predictors of college success may be less meaningful for students with ADHD relative to those without ADHD. Finally, additional research needs to be conducted regarding the use and effectiveness of academic services on college campuses

Predictors and Moderators of Quality of Life Among College Students With ADHD

Objective: The current study examines (a) whether ADHD among college students is associated with differences in perceptions of quality of life (QoL); (b) the moderating roles of comorbidity, drug use, psychopharmacological treatment, and psychosocial treatment; and (c) the total impact of these variables on QoL. Method: Participants were college students with and without ADHD (N = 372) in a longitudinal study. Results: College students with ADHD were more likely to assert negative global QoL evaluations relative to non-ADHD peers. The relationship between ADHD and QoL was not altered as a function of medication treatment, comorbid psychopathology, psychosocial treatment, or drug use. Conclusion: College students with ADHD behave similarly to other adults with ADHD in that they make lower subjective global evaluations of their QoL relative to their non-ADHD agemates. Other factors associated with ADHD and QoL do not appear to moderate this relationship

Assessing culturally different students for AD/HD using behavior rating scales.

Behavior rating scales are commonly used in the assessment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there is little information available concerning the extent to which scales are valid with culturally different students. This study explored the use of the ADHD-IV Rating Scale School Version with male Caucasian (CA) and African American (AA) students from ages 5 to 18 years. Teachers rated AA students higher on all symptoms across all age groups. LISREL analysis indicated that scale does not perform identically across groups. This was supported by the results of multidimensional scaling with suggested that there is a different relation between items across groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Methylphenidate effects on children with ADHD: Self-report of symptoms, self-esteem, and side-effects.

Examined the effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on the self-report ratings of 24 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children provided ratings of ADHD symptoms, side-effects, and self-esteem in a double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of three MPH doses (.16 mg//g, .29 mg//g, .42 mg//g). Mothers and teachers completed ratings of ADHD symptoms and side-effects. Children reported significant improvements in ADHD symptoms with medication in an analogous fashion to parent and teacher ratings. Regardless of dose, children reported some side-effects to be more severe than did parents or teachers. Children reported marginally significant increases in side-effect severity with MPH vs. placebo whereas teachers reported significant reductions in the severity of side-effects with treatment. The low dose led to significant improvements in children’s behavioral self-concept compared to placebo, although most children showed no overall change in self-concept. These results highlight the importance of children’s perceptions of MPH treatment for research and clinical purposes

A comparison of three family therapy programs for treating family conflicts in adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) is a relatively chronic developmental disorder of sustained attention, impulse control, and activity regulation that arises early in childhood and often persists into adolescence (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990; Weiss & Hechtman, 1986). Parents of ADHD adolescents, however, often are concerned about their teens' greater degree of behavior management problems, rebelliousness, conduct problems, and family interaction conflicts compared with normal adolescents (Ackerman, Dykman, & Peters, 1977; Barkley, Anastopoulos, Guevremont, & Fletcher, 1991; Robin, 1990; Weiss & Hechtman, 1986). These parents rated their relationships with their teenagers as filled with more issues of conflict, more anger during conflict discussions, and more negative communication patterns than did parents of adolescents in a control group. However, the majority of these interaction problems occur in that subgroup of ADHD adolescents having coexisting oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) than in those teens with ADHD alone (Barkley, Anastopoulos, Guevremont, & Fletcher, in press; Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1991). Both the ADHD/ODD teens and their parents are more likely to use aversive behaviors (e.g., insults, commands, complaints, defensiveness) during discussions with each other than are parent–teen dyads in control groups (Barkley et al., in press-a). Anecdotal evidence (Robin, 1990) suggests that these conflicts may be a major reason why parents seek treatment for their teens

Impact of Child and Informant Gender on Parent and Teacher Ratings of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rating scales typically provide normative tables arranged according to child age, child gender, and type of informant, which facilitates addressing the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders developmental deviance requirement for diagnosing ADHD. Missing, however, is any consideration of the gender of the informant. The purpose of this paper was to conduct an exploratory examination of informant gender via secondary analyses of a large data set used to standardize the ADHD Rating Scale-5. Two (informant gender) by two (child gender) ANOVAs were conducted separately for parents and teachers using inattention (IN) symptoms, hyperactive-impulsive (HI) symptoms, the total impairment score related to IN, and the total impairment score for HI as dependent variables. Results showed that female parents rated male children significantly higher on both IN symptoms and impairment related to IN than did male parents. Female teacher ratings were also significantly higher than male teacher ratings for male children in terms of HI symptoms and with respect to impairment ratings related to both HI and IN. A significantly higher percentage of female parents (7.7%) identified male children as being at risk for ADHD relative to male parents (4.1%). This same pattern emerged for female teachers (11.9%) versus male teachers (5.3%). Such results suggest that informant gender may play a clinically meaningful role in assessing ADHD in children and adolescents, which is consistent with the developmental literature addressing gender stereotypes in children. Future research is needed to determine whether similar informant gender differences exist in other rating scale measures of ADHD.Public Significance Statement Our study found that when parents and teachers rate attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behaviors in children, boys are nearly twice as likely to be identified as at risk for ADHD when rated by females versus males. Although preliminary, this finding suggests that it may be important for researchers and clinicians to take informant gender into account when assessing ADHD in children

Predictors and trajectories of educational functioning in college students with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

College students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at greater risk than peers for impaired educational functioning; however, little is known regarding their longitudinal academic outcomes. This study examined: (a) differences between ADHD and control participants in academic outcomes (i.e., semester GPA, credits attempted, credits earned) over the first two years of college, and (b) factors that predict second year outcomes. A sample of 456 students (50% with ADHD; 51.8% female; 71.7% Caucasian) from 10 universities completed two annual assessments. Compared to students without ADHD, students with ADHD experience more academic difficulties that persist over two years. Motivation to study reported in year one was a significant predictor of year two GPA, suggesting the importance of providing services as early as possible to support students before they struggle

Teacher ratings of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms: Factor structure and normative data.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) involves the display of developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity, and overactivity resulting in functional impairment across two or more settings (American Psychiatric Association [ APA], 1994). Approximately 4% of school-aged children and adolescents in the United States have this disorder. Children with this disorder are at higher than average risk for academic underachievement, conduct problems, and social relationship difficulties, as a function of the core symptoms of ADHD (Barkley, 1990). The disorder is chronic for most individuals with ADHD and requires long-term treatment (Weiss & Hechtman, 1993). Given the chronic nature of ADHD and associated problematic outcomes, assessment measures are needed for screening and identification purposes

Anxiety Symptoms and Disorders in College Students With ADHD

Objective: This study examined anxiety symptoms and disorders in college students with ADHD. Method: Forty six college students with ADHD and a matched group of students without ADHD participated. Participants completed self-report measures of anxiety symptoms and associated features, including worry, maladaptive beliefs about worry, panic symptoms, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and self-efficacy. Participants also completed a diagnostic interview to assess lifetime and current anxiety disorders. Results: Participants with ADHD endorsed more maladaptive beliefs about worry, more obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and poorer self-efficacy compared with comparison participants. There were no group differences in rates of current anxiety disorders. Participants with ADHD were over 2 times more likely than comparison participants to endorse this lifetime history. Conclusion: College students with ADHD are more likely to have a lifetime history of an anxiety disorder and are at greater risk for some anxiety symptoms and associated features

Adjustment to College in Students With ADHD

Objective: To examine college adjustment in students reporting an ADHD diagnosis and the effect of medication treatment on students’ adjustment. Method: 1,648 first-semester freshmen attending a public and a private university completed a Web-based survey to examine their adjustment to college. Results: Compared with 200 randomly selected control students, 68 students with ADHD reported more academic concerns and depressive symptoms. This was explained by higher rates of inattentive symptoms among students with ADHD and was unrelated to hyperactive-impulsive symptoms. Among students with ADHD, medication treatment was not related to better adjustment or diminished ADHD symptoms. The contributionof inattention to academic concerns and depressive symptoms remained significant when controlling for personality traits. Conclusion: Students with ADHD experience greater academic performance concerns and depressive symptoms during the transition to college. Medication treatment did not appear to diminish ADHD symptoms nor enhance students’ adjustment.(J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 11(6) 689-699