An interpretative phenomenological analysis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescents

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a multifactorial neurodevelopmental disorder distinguished by developmentally inappropriate and impairing inattention, motor hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These difficulties develop during childhood, and often continue throughout adulthood. Literature review shows that majority of the research about ADHD are conducted in quantitative methodology. We have found that most of these studies are review articles, mostly concerned with how individuals are affected by ADHD as opposed to how they express it. This reveals a lack of scientific information about how people with ADHD experience this disorder and how they verbalize their experience. Despite the existence of one such study in international literature, we have not found any domestic studies. The aim of this research is to reveal how adolescents experience the phenomenon of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The study sample consisted of 10 adolescents aged between 11-18 years who were diagnosed with ADHD without a comorbid disorder. Participants were interviewed through a semi-structured interview form. The interviews were conducted online, and a transcript of the voice recording of each participants was created. The constituent texts from these transcripts were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. As a result of the analysis, the following themes were found: Academic difficulty, normalizing and affirming the diagnosis, living with undesirable emotions and behaviors, and negative social experiences. The findings reveal that ADHD related experiences and expressions of adolescents are not solely of a single nature. Instead they were also perceived in a positive light as well as negative. The results reveal that the awareness of professionals and families who have contact with ADHD-diagnosed adolescents should be raised, and that interventional and motivational programs directed at ADHD treatment related negative experiences of adolescents can be organized. Keywords: Adolescent, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis