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. 2021 Oct;25(12):1731-1742.
doi: 10.1177/1087054719900251. Epub 2020 Jan 23.

Executive and Daily Life Functioning Influence the Relationship Between ADHD and Mood Symptoms in University Students

Saleh M H Mohamed  1 , Norbert A Börger  1 , Jaap J van der Meere  1
Affiliations

Executive and Daily Life Functioning Influence the Relationship Between ADHD and Mood Symptoms in University Students

Saleh M H Mohamed et al. J Atten Disord. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: Many studies have indicated a close relationship between ADHD and mood symptoms in university students. In the present study, we explore the role of daily functional impairments and executive functioning in the ADHD-mood relationship. Method: A total of 343 adults (126 males) filled out (a) the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale, (b) the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, (c) the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale, and (d) the Executive Function Index Scale. Results: The correlation between mood symptoms and ADHD was .48 (moderate correlation) and dropped to .15 (weak correlation) when controlling for functional problems and executive functioning. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both functional impairments and executive functioning significantly explained 42% to 53% of the variance of mood symptoms. The addition of ADHD symptoms to the model slightly increased the explained mood variance by only 1%. Conclusion: These findings underline the role of experienced difficulties in triggering mood symptoms in ADHD symptomatology.

Keywords: ADHD; CAARS; DASS; daily life functional problems; executive functions; mood symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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