The symptoms of females with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
(AD/HD) have been underreported, possibly due to the fact that their symptoms of
inattention are often overlooked. Research has revealed that individuals report low selfesteem
as a result of undiagnosed AD/HD. Thus, if these individuals are not diagnosed
and exposed to the proper treatment for their AD/HD symptoms, they may continue to
endure progressive psychological impairments in the years to come. The current study is
an attempt to contribute to the literature concerning the presentation and outcome of
AD/HD in women. This study aims to determine the relationship of self esteem and
AD/HD in college women.
A sample of 74 women participated in this study. A total of 24 students
diagnosed with AD/HD and 50 students without AD/HD comprised the sample.
Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and an AD/HD and Self-Esteem
inventory.
Results of this study indicated that women who were diagnosed with AD/HD
scored higher than the comparison sample on all scales measuring AD/HD symptoms. As predicted, AD/HD symptoms were found to be negatively related to self-esteem. On
the other hand, no significant correlations were found between the age of women when
they were first diagnosed with AD/HD and their current level of self-esteem. It was also
determined that family support was related self-esteem. Thus, family support was
examined as a moderator of the relation between self-esteem and AD/HD.
Unfortunately, family support does not appear to moderate the relation between AD/HD
and self-esteem.
Limitations of this study included a small sample size, the use of self-reports, not
examining subtypes of AD/HD individually, and not requiring a medication abstinence
period.
Despite limitations, this study provides some insight on the outcomes of women
with AD/HD. It also provides evidence for the need of additional research in the area of
women with AD/HD; their life-span experience with AD/HD and the effects of a late
diagnosis. Further studies in this area of interest that include larger sample sizes from
multiple postsecondary institutions will be necessary to determine that the results in this
study are in fact generalizable to other college women diagnosed with AD/HD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-05-683 |
| Date | 2009 May 1900 |
| Creators | Joseph, Reni |
| Contributors | Ash, Michael |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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