Bridging life and disease in adolescents with ADHD and medical comorbidity

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex disorder associated with impairments in social, emotional, academic and behavioral functioning. Furthermore, the prevalence of medical diseases is higher in children and adolescents with ADHD than in children and adolescents without ADHD.

Research on ADHD and medical comorbidity in children and adolescents is sparse, and the existing literature emphasizes the need for improving treatment and care in hospital services for children and adolescents with ADHD and medical comorbidity and their families. Adolescence is a challenging time in childhood for children with ADHD and their parents; they need interventions targeting their needs. The Guided Self-Determination Method (GSD) could be an option.

The purpose of this PhD project is to adapt GSD to adolescents aged 13-18 years with ADHD and medical comorbidity (GSD-ADHD) and to evaluate how GSD-ADHD involve and support adolescents in managing ADHD and medical comorbidity.

The PhD project consists of three studies.

Study 1 is a qualitative study aiming to explore how adolescents experience living with ADHD and medical comorbidity in everyday life. The results from this study will be used in the process of adapting GSD to GSD-ADHD.

Study 2 is a mixed method convergent pilot study combining qualitative and quantitative data in evaluating the impact of GSD-ADHD on adolescents’ management of ADHD and medical comorbidity, and their perceptions of support from health care professionals and parents.

Finally, study 3 is a qualitative study aiming to explore how adolescents, parents and health care professionals use GSD-ADHD for managing, supporting and treating adolescents with ADHD and medical comorbidity.

Describing how adolescents experience ADHD and medical comorbidity in everyday life will provide new knowledge on this phenomenon. Furthermore, the study provides insight in GSD-ADHD, which may contribute to the knowledge on systematic involvement of patients and relatives in the healthcare system.