Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is commonly accompanied by functional impairments within personal, professional, and social context as well as further psychological distress. The role of perceived stress has been examined in this regard, although little is known about the influence of stress coping strategies. We examined the dynamics between ADHD symptomatology, stress coping strategies, and life impairments in a sample of 230 clinical and non-clinical adult individuals. ADHD was associated with low probability of choosing adaptive but high probability of implementing maladaptive stress coping strategies as well as with increased life impairments. Adaptive stress coping showed little effects beyond the associations between ADHD and life impairments, whereas some maladaptive coping strategies increased current life impairments over and above the effects of ADHD and further psychological distress. The present findings emphasize the need of professional support in adults with ADHD and the necessity to include stress coping strategies in respective treatment approaches aimed at reducing life impairments.
Highlights
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ranges among the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with world-wide prevalence estimations between 5 and 9% (Thomas et al 2015; Cabral et al 2020)
We examined a large sample of adults for ADHD symptomatology/severity, a variety of adaptive and maladaptive stress coping strategies, and life impairments in different domains
The majority of them (n = 119, 88.1%) came from our ADHD outpatient consultation department. We considered those participants to display a categorical ADHD index group who reported clinically relevant ADHD symptomatology both in childhood and at the current point in time (43.9%, n = 101; of those, n = 99, 98.0%, from our ADHD outpatient consultation department)
Summary
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ranges among the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with world-wide prevalence estimations between 5 and 9% (Thomas et al 2015; Cabral et al 2020). With respect to emotion dysregulation in children, studies indicate that those diagnosed with ADHD rarely use adaptive coping strategies, whereas maladaptive coping strategies are implemented more frequently (Hampel and Desman 2006; Hampel et al 2008; Schmitt et al 2012). Whereas (Young 2005) stated that the choice of adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies may be dependent on the individual’s cognitive capability, (Torrente et al 2014) found no associations between coping strategies and cognitive parameters Implications of both studies are impeded due to small sample sizes. Overbey et al (2011) asked young adults about stress and respective coping strategies with regard to their intimate relationships They found that higher selfreported ADHD symptomatology went along with increased rates of perceived stress and elevated risk of implementing maladaptive stress coping strategies
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