Prevalence of ADHD and comparison of mental health dimensions between students with and without ADHD

Research shows that people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience many mental health problems that can be associated with the risk of being misdiagnosed or neglected and have more serious consequences. Meanwhile, domestic studies have paid little attention to the topic of the prevalence of ADHD and mental health, in a comparative study in the studied population.

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of ADHD in university students of Isfahan city and compare the mental health of students with and without the disorder.

The study method was descriptive in the first section and causal-comparative in the second part while frequency, mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance, and independent t-test were used. Barkley Adult ADHD Rating scale (2011), ASRS (2005), SCL-90 (1976), and demographic questionnaire were used. The sample size was 600, selected based on random cluster sampling.

According to the Barkley questionnaire, 13/5 percent have ADHD, but based on ASRS 12 percent have ADHD. Amongst females with ADHD, 18/8% were inattention type, 4/5% hyperactivity type and 6/33% reported combined type. Amongst males with ADHD, 9% were inattention type, 4/83% were hyperactive and 7/16% reported combined type. In comparison, between 2 groups with the probability of ADHD and without, the mental health elements like aggression, excessive fear, sensitivity in the relationship, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, anxiety, and depression were significant (P</05) while others were not.

The probability of suffering from ADHD is increasing among university students. In addition, some dimensions of mental health in ADHD students are different from their normal counterparts.