Students With ADHD Aren ’t Always Given The Support They Need To Thrive At University

By Emily Reynolds Doing well in educational settings can have huge advantages — better job prospects, higher wages, greater life satisfaction and more. Achievement at university isn’t always to do with how hard you work or how intelligent you are, however — first generation university students are more at risk of impostor syndrome, for example, reducing their engagement in class, their attendance, and their overall performance. And for those with extra needs, university can offer all kinds of extra challenges, as a new study in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology makes clear. It finds that students with ADHD obtained significantly lower grades than those without the diagnosis, suggesting that academic and pastoral services are not going far enough to support neurodiverse students. The team recruited 456 US-based students for a longitudinal study: at the first point, students were in their first year of university, with further participation each year for four years. Around half met criteria for ADHD, while the other half did not, and of those who met ADHD criteria half were taking medication. About 70% of students with ADHD and 85% of control participants completed all four assessments. To measure ADHD, participants were first asked to complete a self-report scale listing inattention and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms commonly seen in those with the diagnosis. They then took part in a semi-structured interview with the team, design...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: ADHD Educational Source Type: blogs