Quality of Life in Children with ADHD: Deficits and Strengths

Pages:282-287
Neha Verma1 and Vanita Sondhi2 (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi1 and Department of Applied Psychology, Vivekananda College, University of Delhi, Delhi2)

The Quality of Life is the individual’s perception of their position in life specific to their culture, value system and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. Quality of Life has become an increasingly important measure of mental health work and research. The current study gives a brief overview of the literature on children with ADHD and their quality of life. The study further proposes to examine issues from a different perspective namely the resilience-based perspective. The extant literature indicates that the majority of studies have employed a deficit-focused approach. Research using this approach has demonstrated that children with ADHD have a lower quality of life than children who do not have the disorder. Additionally, this approach also highlights that severity of symptoms and presence of comorbidities is associated with low quality of life in these children. Pharmacological treatments like methylphenidate, atomoxetine, and other stimulants are correlated with an improvement in quality of life scores. The present study highlights that in this approach the focus is more on ‘fixing’ the deficits and identifying what is lacking in these children than on identifying their strengths and factors that are contributing in their ‘thriving’. The study also highlights the importance of resilience-based approach to study the quality of life of children with ADHD.