College Adjustment as a Mediator Between Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Work Self-Efficacy¹

Adaptação Acadêmica Como Mediadora Entre Sintomas do Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade e Autoeficácia Profissional

Adaptación Académica Como Mediadora Entre Síntomas del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad y Autoeficacia Profesional

Abstract

Studies have addressed features of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in higher education, but the potential relationships between ADHD symptoms, dimensions of college adjustment and students' work self-efficacy remain scarcely explored. The aim of this study was to test a theoretical model in which the dimensions of college adjustment mediate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and work self-efficacy. Participants were 509 college students from two Brazilian public universities. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using a path analysis model. The ADHD symptoms affected work self-efficacy exclusively through college adjustment problems. Improving students' well-being, social support networks, study habits, and feelings regarding their majors and the university may reduce the potential disadvantages in work self-efficacy caused by ADHD symptoms.

Keywords:
attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity; adjustment; self-efficacy