Surprising ADHD research finds greater life demands linked to reduced symptoms
www.psypost.org
Recent research found that ADHD often fluctuates, with most individuals experiencing alternating periods of remission and recurrence influenced by environmental demands, rather than following a static course of persistence or permanent remission. Recovery is rare, occurring in only 9.1%.

Curious to hear what others think, as this definitely aligns with my own experiences.

The original study is behind a paywall, but I’m trying to see if I can get a hold of the full text somehow. For now, here’s the abstract.

Abstract

Objectives: Recent studies report a fluctuating course of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across development characterized by intermittent periods of remission and recurrence. In the Multimodal Treatment of ADHD (MTA) study, we investigated fluctuating ADHD including clinical expression over time, childhood predictors, and between- and within-person associations with factors hypothesized as relevant to remission and recurrence.

Methods: Children with DSM-5 ADHD, combined type (N = 483), participating in the MTA adult follow-up were assessed 9 times from baseline (mean age = 8.46) to 16-year follow-up (mean age = 25.12). The fluctuating subgroup (63.8% of sample) was compared to other MTA subgroups on variables of interest over time.

Results: The fluctuating subgroup experienced multiple fluctuations over 16 years (mean = 3.58, SD = 1.36) with a 6- to 7-symptom within-person difference between peaks and troughs. Remission periods typically first occurred in adolescence and were associated with higher environmental demands (both between- and within-person), particularly at younger ages. Compared to other groups, the fluctuating subgroup demonstrated moderate clinical severity. In contrast, the stable persistent group (10.8%) was specifically associated with early and lasting risk for mood disorders, substance use problems in adolescence/ young adulthood, low medication utilization, and poorer response to childhood treatment. Protective factors were detected in the recovery group (9.1%; very low parental psychopathology) and the partial remission group (15.6%; higher rates of comorbid anxiety).

Conclusions: In the absence of specific risk or protective factors, individuals with ADHD demonstrated meaningful within-individual fluctuations across development. Clinicians should communicate this expectation and monitor fluctuations to trigger as-needed return to care. During remission periods, individuals with ADHD successfully manage increased demands and responsibilities.

  • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    7·
    18 hours ago

    I hope you’re doing alright now. I know moving can be extremely stressful, and hopefully your recovery time is enjoyable.

    I remember once in college that I had a big paper to write, and I decided that I was going to get started on it “early” so that I could finish it early and avoid the deadline stress. I legitimately started it early, but somehow still managed to finish it at the very last minute. I spent my entire weekend in the library, and I don’t think the final product was significantly better than if I had procrastinated on starting. I just spent a lot more time on the research part of it, and didn’t really start putting anything together until the deadline stress kicked in.

    Since that experience, I find it even more difficult to convince myself to start things early, since I’m afraid it will just mean spending more time on stressful tasks.