A randomized controlled trial examining CBT for college students with ADHD.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• College students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face significant educational and psychosocial challenges.
• Early intervention is crucial for mitigating these difficulties and promoting student success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the ACCESS (Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success) program, a cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention.
• To assess the impact of ACCESS on ADHD symptoms, executive functioning, and psychosocial outcomes in college students with ADHD.

Main Methods:

• A large, multisite randomized controlled trial involving 250 college students (ages 18-30) with rigorously defined ADHD.
• Participants were randomly assigned to receive immediate ACCESS treatment or a 1-year delayed treatment.
• Outcomes included ADHD symptoms, executive functioning, depression, anxiety, clinical change mechanisms, and service utilization, assessed over two semesters.

Main Results:

• Immediate ACCESS participants showed significantly greater improvements in ADHD symptoms, executive functioning, and use of disability accommodations (medium to large effect sizes).
• Clinical significance analyses indicated higher percentages of improvement among immediate ACCESS participants for these outcomes.
• While direct improvements in depression and anxiety were not evident, participants in the immediate ACCESS group were less likely to report worsening symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The ACCESS program is an effective and feasible treatment for college students diagnosed with ADHD.
• Findings support the use of cognitive-behavioral interventions to address the unique needs of young adults with ADHD in higher education.