Neurodevelopmental disorders and academic level: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and emotional well-being

Abstract

Background: The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) negatively impacts mental health, self-esteem and academic performance, hindering learning, organization and working memory of people who present it. In many cases, their social and family life is also affected, diminishing their quality of life. The study of ADHD in university students, and its repercussions, is a field yet to be explored, being valued as a research challenge. Objectives: To determine the relationship between the presence of ADHD symptoms among first year university students and their emotional well-being, as well as with other factors that may intervene in their academic performance, such as the university degree chosen or the access grade, or the presence of other psychopathological symptomatology. Materials and methods: The study involved 1040 first-year students of the degrees of Medicine, Nursing, Law, Tourism, Telecommunications, Science, among others, of the Faculty of Girona. These were grouped into two large groups: Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Humanities. The students voluntarily answered the following questionnaires: the Adult Self-Report (ASR), the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS) and the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed and related to other study variables by means of statistical tests of comparison of means and proportions. Results: 1.5% more students with ADHD symptoms were found in the Faculty of Humanitiesthan in the Faculty of Science. Those students with ADHD symptomatology obtained a lower mean score on the emotional well-being questionnaire compared to the non-ADHD group (p = < .001). No significant differences were found in university access score, between the group of students presenting ADHD symptoms and anxious symptomatology and the group presenting ADHD without anxious symptomatology. Conclusions: It was observed that students with the presence of ADHD symptoms presented worse emotional well-being. On the other hand, we did not obtain significant differences in the prevalence of ADHD between the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities. This indicates that there was no predilection for letter studies due to the presence of ADHD symptoms. At the same time, there were no significant differences in university entrance scores between the ADHD group with anxious symptoms and the ADHD group without anxious symptoms, suggesting that those with better grades do not necessarily present anxious symptoms

Background: The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) negatively impacts mental health, self-esteem and academic performance, hindering learning, organization and working memory of people who present it. In many cases, their social and family life is also affected, diminishing their quality of life. The study of ADHD in university students, and its repercussions, is a field yet to be explored, being valued as a research challenge. Objectives: To determine the relationship between the presence of ADHD symptoms among first year university students and their emotional well-being, as well as with other factors that may intervene in their academic performance, such as the university degree chosen or the access grade, or the presence of other psychopathological symptomatology. Materials and methods: The study involved 1040 first-year students of the degrees of Medicine, Nursing, Law, Tourism, Telecommunications, Science, among others, of the Faculty of Girona. These were grouped into two large groups: Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Humanities. The students voluntarily answered the following questionnaires: the Adult Self-Report (ASR), the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS) and the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed and related to other study variables by means of statistical tests of comparison of means and proportions. Results: 1.5% more students with ADHD symptoms were found in the Faculty of Humanitiesthan in the Faculty of Science. Those students with ADHD symptomatology obtained a lower mean score on the emotional well-being questionnaire compared to the non-ADHD group (p = < .001). No significant differences were found in university access score, between the group of students presenting ADHD symptoms and anxious symptomatology and the group presenting ADHD without anxious symptomatology. Conclusions: It was observed that students with the presence of ADHD symptoms presented worse emotional well-being. On the other hand, we did not obtain significant differences in the prevalence of ADHD between the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities. This indicates that there was no predilection for letter studies due to the presence of ADHD symptoms. At the same time, there were no significant differences in university entrance scores between the ADHD group with anxious symptoms and the ADHD group without anxious symptoms, suggesting that those with better grades do not necessarily present anxious symptoms

Antecedents: el diagnòstic d’un trastorn per dèficit d’atenció amb hiperactivitat (TDAH) impacta negativament en la salut mental, l’autoestima i el rendiment acadèmic, dificultant l’aprenentatge, l’organització i la memòria de treball de les persones que ho presenten. En molts casos també es veu afectada la seva vida social i família, disminuint la seva qualitat de vida. L’estudi del TDAH en els alumnes universitaris, i les seves repercussions, és un camp encara per explorar, sent valorat com un desafiament de recerca. Objectius: determinar la relació entre la presencia de símptomes de TDAH entre els alumnes de primer any d’universitat i el seu benestar emocional, així com amb altres factores susceptibles d’intervenir en el seu rendiment acadèmic, com ara; el grau universitari triat o la nota d’accés o la presencia d’una alta simptomatologia psicopatològica. Materials i mètodes: Van participar a l'estudi 1040 alumnes de primer any dels graus de Medicina, Infermeria, Dret, Turisme, Telecomunicacions, Ciències entre d'altres, de la Facultat de Girona. Aquests es van agrupar en dos grans grups: Facultat de Ciències i Facultat de Humanitats. Els alumnes van contestar voluntàriament els qüestionaris següents: l'Adult Self Report (ASR), l'ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS) i el WHO-5 Well-being Index. Les dades obtingudes dels qüestionaris van ser analitzades i relacionades amb altres variables d’estudi gràcies a proves estadístiques de comparació de mitjanes i proporcions. Resultats: Un 1,5% més d'alumnes amb símptomes de TDAH es troben a la Facultat de Humanitats en comparació de la de Ciències. Aquells alumnes amb simptomatologia de TDAH van obtenir una puntuació mitjana més baixa al qüestionari de benestar emocional, en comparació del grup de no TDAH (p = < .001). No es van trobar diferències significatives a les notes d'accés a la universitat, entre el grup d'estudiants que presento símptomes de TDAH i simptomatologia ansiosa i el grup que presentava TDAH sense simptomatologia ansiosa. Conclusions: Es va observar que els alumnes amb presència de símptomes de TDAH presentaven un pitjor benestar emocional. D'altra banda, no vam obtenir diferències significatives a la prevalença de TDAH entre la Facultat de Ciències i de Humanitats. Indicant que per presentar símptomes de TDAH no hi havia una predilecció per estudis de humanitats. Alhora, no hi va haver diferències significatives entre les puntuacions d'accés a la universitat entre el grup de TDAH i símptomes ansiosos i el grup de TDAH sense símptomes ansiosos, suggerint que aquells amb millors qualificacions no presenten necessàriament simptomatologia ansiosa