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January 22, 2025Applied Psychology ResearchOpen Access

COVID-19 pandemic linked to a ~110% increase in adult ADHD prevalence among U.S. workers.

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Why the study?

To analyze the relationship between U.S. workers' reported ADHD symptomatology and the impact of pandemic conditions on symptomatic impairment and estimated Adult ADHD prevalence.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic increase reported ADHD symptomatology and the estimated prevalence of Adult ADHD among U.S. workers?

Population

U.S. workers

Comparison

ASRS screener data collected during the pandemic vs data from two pre-pandemic studies

Key result

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated prevalence of adult ADHD diagnosis among U.S. workers increased to 9.26% compared to a pre-pandemic estimate of 4.4%.

Authors

AEAdrienne L. EdwardsGMG. Wayne MacDonaldWAWilliam Abraczinskas

Discussion

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Overview

Pandemic linked to higher worker ADHD prevalence; hypothesis-generating and requires longitudinal studies before clinical adoption.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=921)

Structured PICO

Did the COVID-19 pandemic increase reported ADHD symptomatology and the estimated prevalence of Adult ADHD among U.S. workers?

P
Population
U.S. workers
I
Intervention
COVID-19 pandemic conditions
C
Comparator
Pre-pandemic conditions (data from two pre-pandemic studies)
O
Outcome
Reported levels of ADHD symptomatology, symptomatic impairment (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Screener [ASRS] scores), and estimated prevalence of Adult ADHDpatient reported

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 9.26% vs 4.4%

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in self-reported ADHD impairment and estimated prevalence among U.S. workers, highlighting the need to support neurodiverse employees in new work environments.

Limitations

  • Reconstruction of experimental results from published studies without access to original data
  • Non-probability sampling methods excluded unemployed, self-employed, and part-time workers
  • Only five ISCO-08 job classes were studied, limiting generalizability
  • Demographic information collected was limited to gender, preventing weighting of data for specific comparative analysis

Cite This Study

Edwards et al. (2025) conducted a cross-sectional in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (n=921). COVID-19 pandemic conditions vs. Pre-pandemic conditions was evaluated on Estimated population prevalence of adult ADHD. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated prevalence of adult ADHD diagnosis among U.S. workers increased to 9.26% compared to a pre-pandemic estimate of 4.4%.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a110861cd70b138bf1a0d83https://doi.org/10.59400/apr1442
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