A new study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders finds that adults’ feelings about their attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder depend on their specific symptoms, with hyperactive and impulsive traits linked to more positive attitudes and inattentive symptoms tied to less positive views.
Led by Gili Katabi of Tel-Aviv University, the researchers sought to test whether these positive feelings vary by whether a person’s ADHD symptoms are primarily hyperactive/impulsive or mainly inattentive. The work builds on a broader shift towards recognising strengths associated with the condition as well as its challenges.
The study sits within a growing body of work that has explored positive aspects of ADHD. Earlier qualitative research highlighted themes such as high energy, unconventional thinking and resilience, while later quantitative work suggested that people with more ADHD traits can show heightened cognitive flexibility and sensory processing sensitivity. The new project advances this line by constructing a formal scale to measure positive attitudes toward ADHD itself.
Participants were assessed with the newly developed Positive Attitudes Toward ADHD Scale, a questionnaire designed to capture perceived positives such as creativity, dynamic energy and resilience. Respondents rated their agreement with statements on a five‑point scale, reflecting personal views of their condition rather than objective abilities.
The researchers tested the scale across three groups. The first comprised 84 young adults in Israel with formal ADHD diagnoses who completed the assessments in a laboratory setting. The second group included 125 Israeli adults who also completed the measures in the lab, with structured clinical interviews by phone to confirm ongoing ADHD criteria while excluding heavy substance use. A third, online sample consisted of 126 English-speaking adults from 24 countries who provided detailed information about their diagnosis and treatment history to confirm status.
Across all three samples, more frequent ADHD symptoms overall correlated with more favourable attitudes toward the condition. However, when breaking the symptoms into the two core categories, hyperactive and impulsive symptoms consistently predicted more positive attitudes toward having ADHD. In contrast, higher levels of inattention tended to align with less positive views, though this negative association was not statistically significant in every sample.
In a follow‑up study within the second sample, 35 participants were assessed for general life satisfaction. The link between hyperactive symptoms and positive attitudes toward ADHD remained, suggesting the new scale captures attitudes about the condition itself rather than a general sense of well‑being.
The findings echo earlier work reported by PsyPost, including a 2024 study that linked hyperactivity and impulsivity to higher relationship and job satisfaction later in life, implying that the energy associated with ADHD can foster curiosity and enthusiasm over time.
Readers should note that the scale relies on self‑report and measures subjective opinions rather than objective performance. Endorsing positive statements about creativity or flexibility does not necessarily translate to higher scores on behavioural tests. The study acknowledges that self‑report biases and societal perceptions of different symptoms may influence responses, and it did not include questions about hyperfocus, which may have shaped results related to the inattentive dimension.
Looking ahead, the authors suggest incorporating reports from friends or family to provide a fuller picture of how these traits manifest daily. They also propose testing whether these contrasting attitudes appear in children and adolescents or are unique to adults who have had more time to adapt to their neurodevelopmental differences.
The research team behind the study—Gili Katabi, Merav Huss, Steve Lukito, Tycho J. Dekkers, Edmund Sonuga‑Barke and Nitzan Shahar—open a new dimension in understanding ADHD as not only a set of challenges but also a spectrum of experiences that individuals interpret in distinct ways.
