ADHD in Adults

Providing a new perspective on ADHD in adults, this compelling book analyzes findings from two major studies directed by leading authority Russell A. Barkley. Groundbreaking information is presented on the significant impairments produced by the disorder across major functional domains and life activities, including educational outcomes, work, relationships, health behaviors, and mental health. Thoughtfully considering the treatment implications of these findings, the book also demonstrates that existing diagnostic criteria do not accurately reflect the way ADHD is experienced by adults, and points the way toward developing better criteria that center on executive function deficits. Accessible tables, figures, and sidebars encapsulate the study results and methods.

"This energetic and informative book tackles head-on the knotty issue of what ADHD in adults really means. It includes helpful answers to such vital problems as what modifications to diagnostic criteria are appropriate, and what are the inferential biases to which clinicians are prone when seeing self-referred cases in their offices. This is the most definitive work to date on the difficult task of generalizing from children with ADHD to adults with ADHD. The authors break new ground in addressing these issues with comprehensive data from their own well-regarded samples. This timely book thus provides a fresh and needed perspective to help resolve longstanding difficulties in understanding ADHD in adults. It will be helpful to DSM-V committee deliberations and to those planning future scientific studies, as well as to clinicians needing a clearer picture of what to expect in adults with ADHD."--Joel T. Nigg, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University"A veritable tour de force. This work will be equally useful to researchers seeking innovative hypotheses about ADHD, to clinicians seeking to understand the course of ADHD into adulthood, and to students at all levels of training. Readers have access to a unified and systematic view of the results from two notable, methodologically rigorous research studies. The book addresses a wide range of clinically urgent issues, such as psychiatric comorbidity, drug use, life impairments, educational attainment, and neuropsychological impairment. The discussions of diagnostic criteria not only provide clinically useful information for adult assessment, but also should strongly influence the evolution of the DSM-V."--Stephen V. Faraone, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Upstate Medical University"The single best source of scientific information on adult ADHD available to date. The results of two major research investigations are thoroughly reviewed to explicate important similarities and differences between children with ADHD followed into adulthood and individuals first referred for ADHD symptoms as adults. This is the first text to make this important and clinically relevant distinction. It is sure to be an indispensable resource for both clinicians and researchers. In addition, graduate students in clinical psychology, counseling, social work, and school psychology will find this text helpful both for the data it provides about adult ADHD and for its insights into how to establish a coherent research agenda."--George J. DuPaul, PhD, Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University-

Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, ABCN, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Dr. Barkley has worked with children, adolescents, and families since the 1970s and is the author of numerous bestselling books for both professionals and the public, including Taking Charge of ADHD and Your Defiant Child. He has also published six assessment scales and more than 300 scientific articles and book chapters on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, executive functioning, and childhood defiance, and is editor of the newsletter The ADHD Report. A frequent conference presenter and speaker who is widely cited in the national media, Dr. Barkley is past president of the Section on Clinical Child Psychology (the former Division 12) of the American Psychological Association (APA), and of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. He is a recipient of awards from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the APA, among other honors. His website is www.russellbarkley.org.​ Kevin R. Murphy, PhD, is founder and Director of the Adult ADHD Clinic of Central Massachusetts in Northborough and is also Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry, State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He was previously Director of the Adult ADHD Clinic and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He has published extensively on adults with ADHD and consults widely on the clinical diagnosis and management of ADHD in adults. Dr. Murphy served as the coinvestigator on the research study of clinic-referred adults with ADHD reported in this volume and conducted the clinical evaluations of all of the adults in that project.Mariellen Fischer, PhD, is currently in private practice and was previously a pediatric neuropsychologist and Professor in the Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Fischer has published numerous articles on ADHD, developmental psychopathology, and neuropsychology. She and Dr. Barkley have reported the earlier results of the Milwaukee longitudinal study of hyperactive children, the adult outcome of which is presented in this book. Dr. Fischer served as coinvestigator and the Milwaukee site principal investigator on the longitudinal study reported in this volume.