PSY 326
Focus Topic and References
The University of Arizona Global Campus
PSY326: Research Methods Professor
I have chosen adult ADHD as my research topic for the remainder of this course. I chose
this topic because I want to find out more information about the symptoms, available treatments,
effects, and diagnosis methods of ADHD in adults. Adult ADHD fits within the following
research areas of psychology, biopsychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology,
and clinical psychology. I have decided to focus my research on the clinical psychology aspect of
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.
To begin my research, I first utilized the American Psychology Association’s Dictionary
of Psychology to learn more about how ADHD was being described. I am going to start by
explaining what I found about ADHD in the APA dictionary. ADHD is the abbreviation for
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In reading the description, it is described as “a behavioral
syndrome characterized by the persistent presence of six or more symptoms, involving (a)
inattention (e.g., failure to complete tasks or listen carefully, difficulty in concentrating,
distractibility) or (b) impulsivity or hyperactivity (e.g., blurting out answers; impatience;
restlessness; fidgeting; difficulty in organizing work, taking turns, or staying seated; excessive
talking; running about; climbing on things). The symptoms, which impair social, academic, or
occupational functioning start to appear before the age of 7 and can be observed in more than
one setting” (2020).
While digging deeper into this topic, I started exploring peer-reviewed and scholarly
journal articles. I used the keywords ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adults,
, symptoms, and treatments in my searches. Although I could find several articles that could be
beneficial in my research, I had to narrow it down to three for this assignment. I attempted to
find more specific information about my topic of adult ADHD. My search has led me to the first
article I have chosen to use for this research assignment. I have decided to use the article
“Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in the United States: Update by Gender and
Race” (Fairman, K.A., Peckham, A.M., & Sclar, D.A., 2020).
I believe that this article is related to my research topic because this article was written to
update previous data obtained in studies that were initially conducted in 2008-2009 and 2012-
2013. The updated data described in this article pertains to diagnosis and treatment trends of
ADHD concerning age, gender, and race. The results that this article discussed showed that the
most recent data set found that a diagnosis of ADHD, both with and without medication
treatments, could be made at about 4.0 million adults and 7.7 million youths since 2008-2009
studies. The numbers have since grown to 5.7 million adults and 9.1 million youth in 2012-2013
studies (2020).
This study also explains that changes made to how ADHD is currently being diagnosed
have increased the number of cases that are now being diagnosed and receiving treatment for
their ADHD. The age range for diagnosis has grown in both the diagnostic and statistical manual
of mental disorders (5th ed.), to being able to observe symptoms no later than the age of 12 versus
the previous data of watching signs of ADHD no later than six years of age, in the DMS (4th ed.),
and in the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), showing ages 4-18 years old in 2011,
compared to 6-12 years old in 2001. The DSM-5 guidelines require that adults must only exhibit
five symptoms of ADHD, whereas the requirement for children is that they must exhibit six
symptoms (Fairman, K.A., Peckham, A.M., & Sclar, D.A., 2020).
The second article that I have chosen to utilize is, “The experiences of receiving a
diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during adulthood in Japan: a qualitative
Focus Topic and References
The University of Arizona Global Campus
PSY326: Research Methods Professor
I have chosen adult ADHD as my research topic for the remainder of this course. I chose
this topic because I want to find out more information about the symptoms, available treatments,
effects, and diagnosis methods of ADHD in adults. Adult ADHD fits within the following
research areas of psychology, biopsychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology,
and clinical psychology. I have decided to focus my research on the clinical psychology aspect of
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.
To begin my research, I first utilized the American Psychology Association’s Dictionary
of Psychology to learn more about how ADHD was being described. I am going to start by
explaining what I found about ADHD in the APA dictionary. ADHD is the abbreviation for
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In reading the description, it is described as “a behavioral
syndrome characterized by the persistent presence of six or more symptoms, involving (a)
inattention (e.g., failure to complete tasks or listen carefully, difficulty in concentrating,
distractibility) or (b) impulsivity or hyperactivity (e.g., blurting out answers; impatience;
restlessness; fidgeting; difficulty in organizing work, taking turns, or staying seated; excessive
talking; running about; climbing on things). The symptoms, which impair social, academic, or
occupational functioning start to appear before the age of 7 and can be observed in more than
one setting” (2020).
While digging deeper into this topic, I started exploring peer-reviewed and scholarly
journal articles. I used the keywords ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adults,
, symptoms, and treatments in my searches. Although I could find several articles that could be
beneficial in my research, I had to narrow it down to three for this assignment. I attempted to
find more specific information about my topic of adult ADHD. My search has led me to the first
article I have chosen to use for this research assignment. I have decided to use the article
“Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in the United States: Update by Gender and
Race” (Fairman, K.A., Peckham, A.M., & Sclar, D.A., 2020).
I believe that this article is related to my research topic because this article was written to
update previous data obtained in studies that were initially conducted in 2008-2009 and 2012-
2013. The updated data described in this article pertains to diagnosis and treatment trends of
ADHD concerning age, gender, and race. The results that this article discussed showed that the
most recent data set found that a diagnosis of ADHD, both with and without medication
treatments, could be made at about 4.0 million adults and 7.7 million youths since 2008-2009
studies. The numbers have since grown to 5.7 million adults and 9.1 million youth in 2012-2013
studies (2020).
This study also explains that changes made to how ADHD is currently being diagnosed
have increased the number of cases that are now being diagnosed and receiving treatment for
their ADHD. The age range for diagnosis has grown in both the diagnostic and statistical manual
of mental disorders (5th ed.), to being able to observe symptoms no later than the age of 12 versus
the previous data of watching signs of ADHD no later than six years of age, in the DMS (4th ed.),
and in the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), showing ages 4-18 years old in 2011,
compared to 6-12 years old in 2001. The DSM-5 guidelines require that adults must only exhibit
five symptoms of ADHD, whereas the requirement for children is that they must exhibit six
symptoms (Fairman, K.A., Peckham, A.M., & Sclar, D.A., 2020).
The second article that I have chosen to utilize is, “The experiences of receiving a
diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during adulthood in Japan: a qualitative
