Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 3-8% of college students. Procrastination, difficulty with organization and planning, trouble staying focused on tasks (especially those that are effortful or boring), impulsivity, and restlessness are commonly reported by students with ADHD. These challenges are compounded by loss of home and secondary school support structures; the marked increase in complexity and volume of work, which often must be initiated and completed independently; and competing responsibilities that impinge on time, such as occupational, familial, and social obligations. Taken together, ADHD is associated with marked academic impairment. Compared to non-ADHD peers, college students with ADHD have lower GPAs, take longer to graduate, and are more likely to withdraw from college.

Despite high rates of ADHD seen among college / post-secondary students worldwide, point estimates mask considerable variability in ADHD prevalence, access to treatment, and utilization of services, driving research into the social determinants of health that affect ADHD. Such factors include, but are not limited to racial and ethnic identity, gender, geographic region, and socioeconomic status. Structural factors driving where knowledge about ADHD comes from may amplify these differences. Most of the literature on ADHD is published out of the United States, followed by Europe, and the most highly cited studies are from large institutes. Such disparities in from where and whom knowledge about ADHD is disseminated may influence our understanding of ADHD and research priorities.

The goal of this Research Topic is to broaden our understanding of social and structural factors that affect ADHD among underrepresented college / post-secondary students. We define “underrepresented” broadly, including but not limited to racially and ethnically minoritized individuals, sexual and gender minority populations, socioeconomically disadvantaged, individuals with disabilities, as well as national identities that are underrepresented in the literature.

We welcome original, empirical research articles that address social and structural factors that affect ADHD risk, assessment, treatment, and engagement with health-care providers among under-represented college/post-secondary student populations. Potential topics include, but not limited to:

• how stigma influences whether college students seek evaluation for ADHD, clinical assessment of ADHD, and/or resources they use to help them manage their symptoms and/or impairment;
• the role of social media in raising awareness of ADHD, or promulgating “ADHD myths”, and how this affects when and how college students engage with health care services;
• risk and resilience factors for ADHD, and its comorbid conditions among underrepresented college student populations;
• ADHD assessment and treatment among first-generation immigrant college students;
• effectiveness of culturally responsive interventions for ADHD in college students;
• barriers to treatment and utilization of services for ADHD among underrepresented college students;
• assessment tools for ADHD among underrepresented populations (e.g., new rating scales, guidance on how to best integrate data, etc.);
• ADHD among group identities underrepresented in the literature.

We invite the following types of manuscripts: original research, systematic reviews, and brief research reports.

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Frontiers in Psychiatry

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