Prevalence of working adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder impairment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for the future

In this study; we analyzed the relationship between U.S. workers’ reported levels of ADHD symptomatology and the impact of pandemic conditions on symptomatic impairment and the estimated prevalence of Adult ADHD. We compared data from the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Screener (ASRS) collected during the pandemic with data from two pre-pandemic studies. Our findings indicate that during the pandemic; mean impairment scores on all six ASRS items increased; leading to a predicted rise in the Adult ADHD diagnosis rate to 9.26%; compared to the pre-pandemic estimate of 4.4%. These results suggest that more adults experienced significant ADHD-related challenges during the pandemic. As organizations continue to implement remote work and other pandemic-related changes; it is important to consider the unique difficulties that neurodiverse workers; particularly those with ADHD; may face in adapting to these new work environments.