College Students with ADHD: A Selective Review of Qualitative Studies

Abstract

Diagnoses of ADHD in adults continue to increase, and the number of college students with ADHD has risen in particular. Qualitative research on this population has been common, but it is not clear what conclusions can be drawn from this research base. We conducted a review of the qualitative research on college students with ADHD over a 20-year period (2002–2021). A systematic search yielded 41 papers that were reviewed in detail. Studies were grouped into four topic areas, with the most researched area being the college experience for these students. Most sample sizes were small, with a median of 10 participants, and most studies used students’ self-reports of having ADHD as the sole method of diagnosis identification/verification. Very few studies (7.3%) included a comparison group of students without disabilities. These results suggest that the qualitative research base on college students with ADHD has significant limitations, including difficulties with generalization, uncertainty regarding diagnostic accuracy, and an inability to make comparative statements about students with vs. without ADHD.