Resource-oriented Diagnostics among Adolescents with ADHD. RCT on the Impact of Test-Instructions on Creativity Test Achievements (ReA-RCT)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Friedrich Linderkamp, since 12/2023
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning ; Developmental and Educational Psychology ; Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 501492484

Research on resources, positive characteristics and competences of adolescents with behavioral disorders is scarce. This also refers to clinical and educational research on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adolescence, which is predominantly focused on examining long-term risk factors, e.g., low academic performance or comorbid disorders (Becker & Fogleman, 2020). To a low extent, studies of creative achievements in adolescents with ADHD are available. Creativity is considered as a meaningful key competence across cultures, e.g., in vocational and educational contexts. There is some evidence in (inter)national research literature that adolescents with ADHD have considerable creative abilities, yet findings are inconsistent (Cramond, 1994; Lüdeke, Linderkamp & Cevani, 2019; Paek, Abdulla & Cramond, 2016). The proposed project aims to conduct an RCT study in a mixed-method design, which will contribute to theory development in the field of resource-oriented diagnostics in adolescents with ADHD aged 14-16 years, also taking into account current social and cultural developments. Contextual variables of creative achievement situations (e.g., test instructions) are varied experimentally to assess the extent to which adolescents' test performance is confounded by aspects of study procedure. A further aim is to assess the meaning of creativity in the context of adolescents' overall biological, social, emotional, and cognitive resources against the background of current sociocultural developments. Validated tests as well as semi-standardized, qualitative interviews will be used. The ReA-RCT project, as based on a perspective of Positive Psychology, contributes to clarify the status of creativity as a possible inherent characteristic of ADHD against the background of cultural ideas and values, resources and social developments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Sören Lüdeke, until 11/2023