Content area
Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders in children, adolescents, and adults. The majority of adult ADHD occupational research has focused largely on cognitive deficits, including difficulty in executive attention functions, working memory, mental processing, hyperactivity-impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and affect problems. Little is known or has been examined regarding factors individuals with ADHD perceive and embody that contribute to their occupational success. This foundational qualitative phenomenological study explored via in-depth semi-structured interviews, the lived experiences of a purposeful sample of eight occupationally successful individuals diagnosed with ADHD in order to gain deeper insight and understanding into factors the participants perceived contributed their occupational success. Thirteen themes emerged from the study which their implications can be considered as working assumptions and/or hypotheses to understanding the most empirically assessable aspects of the phenomenon. The majority were embodied and interwoven within at least six putative psychosocial theories: (a) self-determination theory, (b) social cognitive theory, (c) the emotional intelligence (EI) models, (d) person-environment (P-E) fit theory, (e) the Big five or five factor model (FFM) of personality, and (f) the conceptualization of flow theory. The research effort advanced new findings within ADHD research that may be considered selective embodied occupational success qualities the study group collectively believed they possessed, contributing to the ADHD nomological network.