Impact of COVID-19 in Adolescents with and without ADHD

Grant Number: Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation
PI: Stephen Becker, PhD; Joshua Langberg, PhD
Collaborators: Rosanna Breaux, PhD; Melissa Dvorsky, PhD

The COVID-19 crisis may have a particularly profound impact for adolescents. Adolescence is a developmental period that is associated with the onset of many mental health problems, changing parent-child relationships, a prioritization of peer relationships, and increased autonomy to regulate many health-related behaviors such as sleep, exercise, and technology use. Furthermore, the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences are likely to be particularly magnified and salient in youth with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental risk, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The primary goal of the proposed study is to leverage an already-recruited longitudinal sample of adolescents with and without ADHD to examine COVID-19-related adjustment. Specifically, 260 adolescents with and without ADHD in Ohio/Kentucky and Virginia recently participated across two cohorts in a five-wave, multi-site, prospective longitudinal study and gave permission for future research contact. Half of the sample completed a study visit within the six months prior to the COVID-19 crisis. This timepoint thus proximally precedes the COVID-19 crisis and allows for a prospective examination of pre-COVID-19 factors as predictors of post-COVID-19 adjustment. This highly unique sample allows for a direct comparison of pre- and post-COVID functioning across key developmental domains.

Aim #1: Identify predictors of COVID-19-related coping among adolescents and their families.
Aim #2: Examine the immediate and short-term impact of the COVID-19 crisis for adolescent adjustment.
Aim #3: Explore whether adjustment, coping, and predictors differ for adolescents with and without ADHD.