For decades, clinicians and researchers have framed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder largely in terms of what goes wrong. The focus has remained on inattention, impulsivity, and impaired functioning. But new research in Psychological Medicine suggests that depiction misses a few things. And that maybe shifting our focus to what ADHD patients do well might be a better approach.
Researchers from the UK and the Netherlands took a close look at how adults with ADHD understand, endorse, and use their psychological strengths. And whether those strengths make a difference in their lives.
The answer, according to what they’ve discovered, is a resounding yes. Acknowledging and using one’s strengths improved wellbeing across the board, regardless of one’s ADHD status.
“These exciting findings give us an indication of which positive qualities may be tied to ADHD and thus can be considered ADHD-related strengths,” Luca Hargitai, lead researcher at the University of Bath’s psychology department, said. “It can be really empowering to recognize that, while ADHD is associated with various difficulties, it does have several positive aspects.”
Surprising Strengths
The research team recruited 400 adults in the United Kingdom — 200 with a formal diagnosis and 200 without — carefully matching the two groups by age, sex, education, and socioeconomic status. Participants rated themselves on 25 traits commonly described as “ADHD-related strengths,” including creativity, hyperfocus, humor, spontaneity, and empathy. They also completed validated questionnaires measuring how well they understood their personal strengths, how often they used them, and how they were faring in terms of wellbeing, quality of life, and mental health.
Adults with ADHD did, in fact, endorse some strengths more strongly than their undiagnosed peers. The researchers team pointed to 10 traits that stood out, such as:
- Creativity.
- Humor.
- Hyperfocus.
- Imagination.
- Intuition.
- Spontaneity.
- And “being up for anything.”
Hyperfocus — often treated as a double-edged sword— showed one of the clearest differences between groups.
But the findings also challenged some assumptions. For most of the 25 traits, the two groups reported similar levels of endorsement. And contrary to the researchers’ initial hypothesis, adults with ADHD were no less aware of their strengths and no less likely to use them than adults without the condition.
Where the results became especially striking was in the link between strengths and life outcomes. Across both groups, greater awareness of personal strengths improved subjective wellbeing, enhanced physical and psychological quality of life, and reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Crucially, these links ignored ADHD status. In statistical terms, ADHD failed to moderate the relationship between strengths and outcomes. In practical terms, that means the benefits of recognizing and using strengths appeared just as strong for people with ADHD as for those without it.
Implications
The results of this study carry some important implications. While the perception of ADHD remains mired in visions of lower average wellbeing and the burden of mental health symptoms, the study suggests that strengths-based approaches could offer a broadly applicable, low-risk complement to traditional treatments. Rather than focusing exclusively on symptom reduction, interventions that help people identify and actively deploy their strengths might be a more productive approach to boosting day-to-day functioning and mental health.
“The next step now is to investigate whether interventions that promote the recognition and use of personal strengths can offer tangible improvements in mental wellbeing for adults with ADHD,” Bath Associate Professor of Psychology Punit Shah, PhD, explained. “People with ADHD and other neurodivergences have been calling for this for a long time and we are excited to have some of the first research to support this.”
Neurodivergent adults shouldn’t be defined solely by deficits. And strategies that amplify strengths could hold real promise for improving wellbeing, not just for neurodivergent individuals, but for everyone.
Further Reading
Otsuka Seeks FDA Approval for New ADHD Drug
Online ADHD Assessments Show Promise
Fluctuating ADHD Across the Lifespan with Margaret Sibley, PhD
