Coping strategies and symptoms of Adjustment Disorder among adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during the Covid-19 pandemic

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 8; p. e0309082
• Main Authors: Danielsson, Katarina, Arnberg, Filip K, Bondjers, Kristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 19-08-2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adjustment Disorders - epidemiology; Adjustment Disorders - psychology; Adult; Adults; Anxiety; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - epidemiology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biology and Life Sciences; Comparative analysis; Coping; Coping Skills; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Hyperactivity; Internet; Learning activities; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental disorders; Mental health; Pandemics; Patients; People and places; Population studies; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Regression models; SARS-CoV-2; Social Sciences; Sociodemographics; Stress; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden - epidemiology; Sweden
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309082

The current study examined whether coping strategies and symptoms of Adjustment Disorder in adults with ADHD differed from what was observed in the general adult population during the Covid-19 pandemic, and compared the extent to which coping strategies and symptom levels of Adjustment Disorder were related to ADHD.
This cross-sectional study was based on survey data collected during the spring of 2021 from 231 adult ADHD patients in specialist care and 1148 volunteers without ADHD in Sweden. The survey included questions about sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, along with the Brief-COPE and Adjustment Disorder-New Module 8 questionnaires. Regression models adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were used for between-group comparisons of coping strategies and symptoms of Adjustment Disorder.
There were some notable differences in the use of coping strategies between persons with and without ADHD; however, many of these differences were not observed in the adjusted models. The use of behavioral disengagement was more frequently observed among individuals with ADHD, whereas planning was more common among individuals without ADHD. Individuals with ADHD appeared to show higher symptom levels of Adjustment Disorder during the pandemic. Passive coping strategies, such as denial, self-blame, and behavioral disengagement, were associated with higher symptom levels of adjustment disorder in both individuals with and without ADHD.
In conclusion, the results highlight that persons with ADHD may need more support to adjust to large societal changes than the general public. Potential targets for intervention towards members of this group include reducing resignation and maladaptive coping strategies.