Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
The WHO Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) has 18 questions about recent ADHD symptoms, and a shorter six-question screener was tested against blind clinical diagnoses in 154 people from the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Each ASRS item was linked to the clinical rating, but agreement varied a lot across…
This U.S. study used a nationally representative household survey of 3,199 adults aged 18–44, plus clinical follow-up interviews, to measure adult ADHD. Researchers estimated that 4.4% of adults had current ADHD. Adult ADHD was more common in men, people who were previously married, those who were unemployed, and non-Hispanic white…
This review says adult ADHD affects about 2.5% of adults and often occurs with other mental health problems. Adults with ADHD commonly have trouble with attention, memory, planning, self-control, and emotions. The condition is often missed or undertreated, is linked with big personal and social problems, and the evidence on…
This study reexamined gender differences in adult ADHD by comparing 219 adults with ADHD to 215 control subjects matched for age and gender. The researchers found no evidence that gender changed how ADHD related to other psychiatric disorders. Adults with ADHD showed cognitive deficits and higher rates of major depression,…
Brain imaging studies (fMRI) show that ADHD is linked to problems in many brain networks that control attention, timing, working memory, motivation, and emotion. There is also evidence that a brain system normally quiet during tasks (the default mode network) does not switch off properly in people with ADHD. Some…
This review found that ADHD often continues from childhood into adulthood but is commonly missed and untreated in grown-ups. It estimates adult ADHD affects about 2.5%–5% of the general population and says fewer than 20% of adults with ADHD are diagnosed or treated. Adults with ADHD often have other mental…
Research links ADHD — which shows up as inattention, impulsivity, and too much activity — to weaker structure and function in the brain’s prefrontal cortex (PFC), especially on the right side. The PFC helps control top-down attention, stop inappropriate actions, and regulate emotion, and it needs the right balance of…
This study used a long-term UK birth cohort (N = 8,310) and genetic analyses to test whether childhood ADHD is linked to depression later in life. Children with ADHD at age 7 had higher odds of recurrent depression in young adulthood (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.05–1.73). Genetic analyses (Mendelian randomization)…
This review looked at studies of ADHD stimulant drugs (like methylphenidate and amphetamine). The drugs clearly reduce core ADHD symptoms for many people, but they do not reliably make ADHD students do better in school or on many cognitive tests in real-world settings. The drugs helped one type of memory…
Research on the predominantly inattentive attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD-PI) subtype/presentation is important given its high prevalence, but paradoxically it is under-recognized and undertreated. The temporal stability of the inattention symptom could impact the high worldwide prevalence of ADHD-PI. Some evidence suggests differences in the nature of attentional deficit in ADHD-PI vs.…
This paper reviews evidence and ideas about using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as a non-drug way to help adults with ADHD. It explains that ADHD is linked to abnormal activity in specific brain circuits and that the usual drug treatment, methylphenidate, helps some people but has limits. The authors argue…
This ADDA article explains “high‑functioning ADHD” as when a person has ADHD symptoms but still manages daily life, often by using special strategies. It says high‑functioning ADHD is not an official diagnosis, can be hard to spot because coping methods hide symptoms, and that these workarounds can be tiring and…
