Psy. D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Although Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was once thought to be a disorder specific to childhood and adolescence, it is now accepted that ADHD symptomatology frequently persists into adulthood (Biederman et al., 2010). In addition to poorer social skills and more relationship problems, young adults with ADHD attain lower levels of educational and occupational achievement (Kuriyan et al., 2012). The overarching goal of this study was to understand how ADHD symptomatology impacted the academic functioning of female graduate students diagnosed with ADHD. This study also sought to understand how female graduate students with ADHD coped with the academically deleterious nature of ADHD symptoms. Additionally, this study focused on resilience; specifically, how female graduate students with ADHD experienced themselves as resilient, and how their resilience impacted the ways they coped with the academic challenges and stressors engendered by ADHD symptomatology. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview protocol. Participants' interview transcripts were coded, analyzed, and interpreted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results revealed five group experiential themes [GETs] and 25 individual themes. To increase the validity of the research findings, themes identified in the researcher's data analysis were audited by the researcher's chairperson. In addition to finding that participants used a wide variety of coping skills to manage their ADHD symptomatology, participants' resilience was found to protect against academic impairment and promote development and employment of coping skills and strategies. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Committee: Brett Kia-Keating Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Melissa Kennedy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kristine Jacquin Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology