Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul;128(7):1021-1031.
doi: 10.1007/s00702-021-02309-z. Epub 2021 Feb 2.

ADHD at the workplace: ADHD symptoms, diagnostic status, and work-related functioning

Anselm B M Fuermaier  1 , Lara Tucha  2   3 , Marah Butzbach  2 , Matthias Weisbrod  4   5 , Steffen Aschenbrenner  4   6 , Oliver Tucha  2   3   7
Affiliations

ADHD at the workplace: ADHD symptoms, diagnostic status, and work-related functioning

Anselm B M Fuermaier et al. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) commonly experience impairments in multiple domains of daily living. Work has a central role in daily life and is susceptible to ADHD due to its cognitive demands. The present study seeks to examine the nature of work-related problems and impairments of adults with ADHD, and explores the association to ADHD symptoms and neuropsychological test performance. A community sample of 1231 individuals took part in this study and completed a set of questionnaires assessing ADHD symptoms and work-related problems. Furthermore, a clinical sample of 134 adults diagnosed with ADHD were recruited from an ADHD outpatient clinic, who completed the same set of questionnaires. A subsample of 51 patients with ADHD additionally performed a neuropsychological assessment using tests of attention and executive functions. Work-related problems were found both in individuals of the community sample with symptoms of ADHD and individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Individuals with ADHD reported work related problems particularly in not meeting their own standards and perceived potential, yet it less commonly manifests in negative performance evaluations at work or job loss. ADHD symptoms, in particular symptoms of inattention, were found to be strongly associated with work-related problems, whereas neuropsychological test performance was no meaningful predictor of functioning at work. This study emphasizes the susceptibility of individuals' functioning at work to ADHD symptoms and impairments associated with ADHD. ADHD related difficulties at work should be considered in the clinical evaluation and targeted screening at the work place to provide support when indicated.

Keywords: ADHD; Daily functioning; Occupational functioning; Real life functioning; Work.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

ABMF, LT, MW, SA, and OT have contracts with Schuhfried GmbH for the development and evaluation of neuropsychological test and training tools.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of the proportion of individuals indicating impairment (score ≥ 2) in each of the WFIRS Work item between patients with ADHD (n = 134) and the community comparison group (n = 268)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adamou M, Arif M, Asherson P, Aw T, Bolea B, Coghill D, et al. Occupational issues of adults with ADHD. BMC Psychiatry. 2013;13:59. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-13-59. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association . The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
    1. Anker E, Bendiksen B, Heir T. Comorbid psychiatric disorders in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD, and associations with education, work and social characteristics: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2018;8:e019700. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019700. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anker E, Halmøy A, Heir T. Work participation in ADHD and associations with social characteristics, education, lifetime depression, and ADHD symptom severity. Atten Defic Hyperact Disord. 2019;11(2):159–165. doi: 10.1007/s12402-018-0260-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aschenbrenner S, Tucha O, Lange KW. Regensburg Word Fluency Test (RWT) Goettingen: Hogrefe; 2000.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources