The role of psychological strengths in positive life outcomes in adults with ADHD

BACKGROUND Strengths-based approaches are increasingly common in neurodevelopmental research but the positive characteristics that may be features of ADHD remain underexplored. The extent to which people with ADHD recognise and use their personal strengths, and whether these play a role in their life outcomes, is also unknown. Tackling these gaps in the literature, we conducted the first study of self-reported strengths, strengths knowledge and strengths use in ADHD.METHODS Adults with (n = 200) and without (n = 200) ADHD were recruited online and rated their endorsement of 25 putative ADHD-related strengths. Participants also completed self-report measures assessing strengths knowledge, strengths use, subjective wellbeing, quality of life, and mental health. Using both Frequentist and Bayesian methods, we compared the groups and explored the associations of strengths knowledge and use with outcomes across both groups. RESULTS The ADHD group endorsed 10 strengths more strongly than the non-ADHD group, including hyperfocus, humour and creativity, but reported similar endorsement for 14 of the strengths. Adults with and without ADHD did not differ on their strengths knowledge and use but, in both groups, increased strengths knowledge and, to some extent, greater strengths use were associated with better wellbeing, improved quality of life and fewer mental health symptoms. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that, while adults with and without ADHD may have both similarities and differences in strengths, interventions that focus on enhancing people’s strength knowledge and promoting the use of their personal strengths in their everyday lives could have universal applications to improve wellbeing in adulthood.