Symposium 34 - Pathways to Wellbeing and Adaptive Functioning in ADHD

Chair(s)

• EC

  Elizabeth Chan, M.A., M.S. (she/her/hers)

  Postdoctoral Fellow
  Kennedy Krieger Institute
  Baltimore, Maryland

Discussant(s)

• JL

  Joshua Langberg, Ph.D.

  Professor
  Department of Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University
  Piscataway, New Jersey

Presenter(s)

• EC

  Elizabeth Chan, M.A., M.S. (she/her/hers)

  Postdoctoral Fellow
  Kennedy Krieger Institute
  Baltimore, Maryland
• MD

  Melissa Dvorsky, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Assistant Professor
  Children’s National Health System
  Washington, District of Columbia
• 

  Zoe Smith, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Assistant Professor
  Loyola University Chicago
  Chicago, Illinois
• LO

  Lauren Oddo, M.S. (she/her/hers)

  Graduate Student
  University of Maryland- College Park
  College Park, Maryland

ADHD and adolescence have historically been studied from a deficit-focused perspective. Indeed, ADHD symptoms predict a range of adverse clinical, academic, socioemotional, and functional impairments into adulthood (Pelham et al., 2005), exacting annual illness-related costs of over $100 billion in the US alone (Zhao et al., 2019). During adolescence, the risks associated with ADHD symptomatology are often exacerbated by increasing demands and vulnerability to mental health and socioemotional problems and pressures (Hinshaw & Becker, 2020). Importantly, however, functioning among individuals with ADHD is highly heterogenous. While many with ADHD experience clinically significant impairments (Pelham et al., 2005), there are some who experience success in multiple domains and are even flourishing (Biederman et al., 1998). Despite this heterogeneity, our understanding of factors which promote wellbeing and adaptive functioning in ADHD remains in its nascent stages (Dvorsky & Langberg, 2016). Addressing this gap in the literature is important, as identifying protective factors against the well-documented risks associated with ADHD, can catalyze the development of novel, strength-based interventions that both reduce risk and foster greater wellbeing for this high-risk population (Chan et al., 2022).

Towards that end, this symposium applies a strength-based perspective to discuss mechanisms and interventions that cultivate positive development for adolescents with ADHD. We approach this topic from a developmental psychopathology (Achenbach, 1974) perspective to examine pathways to psychopathology and adaptive functioning, as well as across multiple levels of analysis from the intra-individual, to school-related, to societal-cultural influences. Our studies span the age range of mid-teens to emerging adulthood, given that adolescence is defined by both biological factors (e.g., puberty) as well as socio-cultural pressures (e.g., delayed entrance to independence; Arnett, 2006). Notably, our symposium includes longitudinal investigations examining protective factors for youth with ADHD across critical though often turbulent educational transitions (i.e., middle to high school to college). We address mental health and functional outcomes which adolescents with ADHD are at high-risk for, including academic underachievement, harmful substance use, co-occurring mental health problems, and peer difficulties (Barkley, 2018). With the rise of activism as a centerpiece of life for today’s youth, we are also excited to present one of the first studies to incorporate an intersectional perspective of race, activism, academic motivation, coping and other prosocial behaviors in context of ADHD. Lastly, we are thrilled to conclude with an intervention study demonstrating how a values-based approach can optimize treatment of alcohol problems in college students with ADHD.