First Year GPA and Academic Service Use Among College Students With and Without ADHD

Abstract ADHD is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant impairments in attention and behavioral inhibition typically resulting in academic difficulties that persist into college (Weyandt & DuPaul, 2013). Although most colleges offer support services, students often do not utilize the services they are entitled to or have available to them (Chew et al., 2009). The current study is the first to examine differences in GPA using a rigorously defined, multi-site sample. Second, the current study seeks to identify the predictors of academic performance specifically among college students with ADHD. Third, this study provides data regarding how often students with ADHD utilize academic support services. Finally, the current study investigates the academic outcomes of service use among students with and without ADHD during their first year at a four-year college. Results demonstrated significantly lower GPAs among a rigorously defined, multi-site sample of first year college students with ADHD relative to students without ADHD. Second, this study indicated that traditional predictors of college success may be less meaningful for students with ADHD. Third, ADHD combined with other disorders, but not ADHD alone, predicted higher rates of service use relative to students without ADHD. Finally, the present results suggest that typically available academic services are not independently related to GPA among first-year college students with or without ADHD.