A new study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders suggests that how adults feel about their attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder depends on their specific symptoms. Researchers found that individuals with higher levels of hyperactive and impulsive symptoms tend to view their condition more positively, while those with primarily inattentive symptoms are less likely to see their diagnosis as an advantage. These findings highlight the diverse ways people experience and interpret their neurodevelopmental differences.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, commonly known as ADHD, is a condition that begins in childhood and often continues into adulthood. The diagnosis is based on two main categories of symptoms. The first is inattention, which involves difficulty focusing, sustaining attention, or staying organized. The second category is hyperactivity and impulsivity, characterized by excessive physical movement, restlessness, or acting without thinking. For many years, medical and psychological research focused heavily on the negative impacts of these symptoms, such as difficulties in school, struggles with emotional regulation, and challenges in relationships.
Recently, the rise of the neurodiversity movement has encouraged scientists to look at the other side of the coin. Earlier qualitative studies gathered personal stories showing that people with ADHD often identify real strengths and silver linings in their condition. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 found that adults diagnosed with ADHD reported experiencing notable personal strengths, identifying positive themes like high energy, unconventional thinking, and a drive for novelty. Similarly, a 2018 interview-based study revealed that many adults with ADHD identify distinct personal strengths and resilience linked directly to their diagnosis.
This qualitative foundation sparked recent efforts to study these positives numerically. A 2024 study took early steps to measure these strengths, finding that people with more ADHD traits in the general population also scored higher on traits like cognitive flexibility and sensory processing sensitivity. The new research, led by Gili Katabi of Tel-Aviv University, builds on this momentum by creating a formal scale to measure positive attitudes toward ADHD. The authors wanted to test whether these positive feelings depend on whether someone’s symptoms are mostly hyperactive or mostly inattentive.
To explore this, the researchers developed the Positive Attitudes Toward ADHD Scale. This questionnaire was designed to capture how individuals perceive the positive aspects of their own condition, based on themes from previous interviews like creativity, dynamic energy, and resilience. Participants rated their agreement with various statements on a five-point scale. The team then recruited three distinct groups of adults with ADHD to test the scale and see how scores related to symptom types.
The first sample included 84 young adults in Israel with formal ADHD diagnoses who completed the questionnaires in a laboratory setting. This initial group helped the researchers confirm that the new scale was reliable and captured a wide range of attitudes. The second sample involved 125 adults in Israel who also participated in the lab. For this group, the researchers conducted structured clinical interviews by phone to verify that the participants still met the criteria for ADHD at the time of testing, while excluding those with heavy alcohol or cannabis use.
The third sample was an online group of 126 English-speaking adults residing in 24 different countries. These participants provided detailed written information about their diagnosis and treatment history to confirm their status. Across all three groups, participants filled out the new attitude scale alongside a widely used checklist that measures the frequency of their inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms over the past six months.
When analyzing the results, the researchers found that more frequent ADHD symptoms overall were associated with more favorable attitudes toward the condition. However, breaking the symptoms down into the two main categories painted a more detailed picture. Across all three samples, a higher frequency of hyperactive and impulsive symptoms strongly predicted more positive attitudes toward having ADHD.
In contrast, inattention symptoms showed a very different pattern. Higher levels of inattention tended to associate with less positive attitudes toward the condition, though this negative association was not statistically significant across every sample. The researchers also ran a follow-up test with 35 participants from the second sample to measure their general life satisfaction. They found that the link between hyperactive symptoms and positive attitudes remained distinct, indicating that the new scale was capturing specific feelings about ADHD rather than just a generally happy outlook on life.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that young adult hyperactivity and impulsivity predicted higher relationship and job satisfaction later in life. Together, this body of research suggests that the physical and mental energy associated with hyperactivity might foster traits like curiosity and enthusiasm that people learn to appreciate over time.
There are a few things to keep in mind about these findings. The new scale relies entirely on self-reporting, meaning it captures how people feel about their own condition, not objective measurements of their abilities. Endorsing statements about creativity or flexibility does not necessarily mean a person would score higher on a behavioral test of divergent thinking. The study focuses on subjective opinions, which are important for understanding self-esteem and coping, but are separate from observable advantages.
Another detail to consider is the potential for reporting biases based on how society views different symptoms. Hyperactive and impulsive traits might be easier to reframe in a positive light, such as viewing restlessness as boundless energy. Inattentive traits, like spacing out or forgetting things, might feel less socially acceptable and harder to spin positively. Additionally, the researchers noted that their scale did not include questions about hyperfocus, a common experience where people with ADHD become intensely absorbed in tasks they find interesting, which might have skewed the results away from the inattentive dimension.
Future studies could incorporate reports from friends or family members to provide a more rounded view of how these traits manifest in daily life. Scientists might also test whether these contrasting attitudes exist in children and adolescents, or if they are unique to adults who have had more time to adapt to their neurodevelopmental differences.
The study, “ADHD Individuals’ Positivity About Their Condition Varies by Their Levels of Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Versus Inattention Symptoms,” was authored by Gili Katabi, Merav Huss, Steve Lukito, Tycho J. Dekkers, Edmund Sonuga-Barke, and Nitzan Shahar.