ADHD and Adulthood
The article, "Life Impairments in Adults with Medication-Treated ADHD", looks at how adults with ADHD suffer not only educational impairments because of the disorder, but also overall lower quality of life. The study looked at 105 adults ranging in age from 18-65. All participants needed to be actively medicating their ADHD. Once the individuals were selected for the study, each person was given an assessment to help them judge his or her satisfaction in work, interpersonal relationships, recreation, and global satisfaction.
These satisfaction scores looked at how the person felt ADHD effected each of these areas of his or her life. The researchers were then able to determine how these factors translated to depression and anxiety. Almost all participants indicated problems with work because of ADHD symptoms, with many also citing relationship difficulties. Those participants that showed more problems with relationships and satisfaction were more likely to be depressed. Anxiety was shown to be effected by satisfaction.
Time seems to be spent figuring out how ADHD effects children in the classroom, but after reading this article it becomes clear that symptoms factor into every aspect of life into adulthood. These were individuals that were medicating for symptom relief. Frequently it seems assumed that once medicated the bulk of the issues with ADHD go away. A larger piece may be missing.
I think particularly for teachers helping students transition out of high school this piece needs to be addressed. Helping students determine what support is available to them may help keep things like anxiety and depression under control. Also trying to plan career paths and long term goals can help students feel a sense of control over their lives. ADHD does not have to take over all life decisions. Instead realizing it has to be addressed, and may change the way you arrive at a goal, but not make certain goals unattainable. We are all trying to see how we can best serve students with ADHD and other disabilities. That goal does not end when the student leaves our classroom.
The article itself brought up interesting points. Too often educators worry about accommodations within the school environment without thinking about future ramifications. Teaching coping skills throughout each grade may be something to spend more time on. Allowing students the time to figure out what they need, and empowering them to make that happen may increase overall life satisfaction as they age. It may not be practical to give every student a survey to see how satisfied he or she is with life, it is not hard to have an open dialogue with students and give suggestions on how to make things better.
Safren, S. A., Sprich, S. E., Cooper-Vince, C., Knouse, L. E., & Lerner, J. A. (2010). Life Impairments in Adults with Medication-Treated ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13(5), 524-531
These satisfaction scores looked at how the person felt ADHD effected each of these areas of his or her life. The researchers were then able to determine how these factors translated to depression and anxiety. Almost all participants indicated problems with work because of ADHD symptoms, with many also citing relationship difficulties. Those participants that showed more problems with relationships and satisfaction were more likely to be depressed. Anxiety was shown to be effected by satisfaction.
Time seems to be spent figuring out how ADHD effects children in the classroom, but after reading this article it becomes clear that symptoms factor into every aspect of life into adulthood. These were individuals that were medicating for symptom relief. Frequently it seems assumed that once medicated the bulk of the issues with ADHD go away. A larger piece may be missing.
I think particularly for teachers helping students transition out of high school this piece needs to be addressed. Helping students determine what support is available to them may help keep things like anxiety and depression under control. Also trying to plan career paths and long term goals can help students feel a sense of control over their lives. ADHD does not have to take over all life decisions. Instead realizing it has to be addressed, and may change the way you arrive at a goal, but not make certain goals unattainable. We are all trying to see how we can best serve students with ADHD and other disabilities. That goal does not end when the student leaves our classroom.
The article itself brought up interesting points. Too often educators worry about accommodations within the school environment without thinking about future ramifications. Teaching coping skills throughout each grade may be something to spend more time on. Allowing students the time to figure out what they need, and empowering them to make that happen may increase overall life satisfaction as they age. It may not be practical to give every student a survey to see how satisfied he or she is with life, it is not hard to have an open dialogue with students and give suggestions on how to make things better.
Safren, S. A., Sprich, S. E., Cooper-Vince, C., Knouse, L. E., & Lerner, J. A. (2010). Life Impairments in Adults with Medication-Treated ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13(5), 524-531
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Laura,
ReplyDeleteI love the topic you chose for your article. People do often forget to think outside of the school setting. I agree that students need to be taught the coping mechanisms to help them be successful in the community and into adulthood. It was sad to hear/read that the survey indicated that many people with ADHD suffer with lower quality of life. Teaching the coping skills in school at an early age will hopefully help to influence those living with ADHD in a more positive way.
Great article Laura! When students are transitioning out of high school I do believe it is important to show them what is available to them in the real world. If students are suffering from depression and anxiety, as they graduate high school, they might not be motivated to find resources on their own. As an educator it is important to set up a plan with that student before they graduate. It is also important to show them other options they can choose from in case the original plan doesn't work out. I could not agree more with you when you said students need to be taught coping skills. This is a small adjustment in a students life that could greatly improve their learning and quality of life.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I really appreciated how you spend some time summarizing the main findings, but you also spent ample time wrestling with the topics and reflecting on them. Good try on your first APA citation. I encourage you to check out the Purdue Owl APA resource on Moodle. APA has some really specific capitalization rules for titles that you will want to know (such as only capitalizing the first word or proper nouns). Other than that, this was a wonderful first entry!
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