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Perspectives Of College Students With Childhood Ad/Hd, T. Robin Bartlett, Tracie Rowe, Mona Shattell

Mona Shattell

Purpose: To determine what successful young adults perceive was helpful to them when they were struggling with their attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms as children.

Study Design and Methods: Sixteen young adult college students with a history of ADHD participated in semistructured interviews that asked them which people and what strategies they had found most helpful to them during their childhood. Data were analyzed using content analysis.

Results: The most helpful people were parents and teachers; the most helpful strategies were caring behaviors and active teaching/learning strategies. Participants remembered helpful people as “giving me strategies to help me keep my …

“I Have Always Felt Different:” The Experience Of Childhood Ad/Hd, Mona Shattell, T. Robin Bartlett, Tracie Rowe

Mona Shattell

Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is one of the most important psychiatric problems of our time. This study examined the experience of childhood AD/HD within the contexts that are most significant to this age group – home, school, and friendships. The sample included 16 college-enrolled young adults (ages 18 - 25) with a self-reported history of AD/HD. Participants revealed feelings of difference, misunderstanding, and struggle in all areas of their lives (home, school, and friendships). Nurses can use these findings to improve the care and long-term outcomes of children diagnosed with AD/HD.