ADHD’s impact on quality of life revealed

Children living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to have a significantly lower quality of life, especially if they are medicated or have a parent with a mental health condition.
 
That is according to one of the world’s most comprehensive studies into the disorder, which experts say emphasises the importance of GPs’ wraparound care when treating the condition.
 
While much is known about the functional and academic impacts of ADHD, researchers from Deakin University aimed to examine its impacts on long-term health-related quality of life.
 
The study traced more than 4000 children aged 4–17 across a 13-year period, finding that compared to those with no ADHD symptoms, children with ADHD symptoms had significantly lower quality of life.
 
It found that being a female, having autism or other medical conditions, taking ADHD medication, or having a caregiver with mental health problems is also associated with poorer quality of life.
 
However, given the small sample size of children taking ADHD medication, especially in the early childhood phase, researchers warned caution must be taken when interpreting this result.
 
Conversely, having two or more siblings was associated with better quality of life.
 
Dr Tim Jones, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health,  said the study highlights that a focus on medications alone ‘isn’t going to be enough’.
 
He said the findings also align with GPs’ skillset of ‘breaking problems down into small goals and helping people to work on structure, focus, communication, and positive routines’.
 
‘We need to respect the complexity involved in ADHD in our kids, and if we want to see good outcomes and great quality of life, we need to be focusing on lots of different factors like their whole wellbeing,’ Dr Jones told newsGP.
 
‘We really need to make sure that our parents of children with ADHD have adequate access to supports for their child, but also for their own wellbeing.
 
‘It really emphasises, as general practice moves into this space, the importance of that wraparound whole-of-family care as something that looks like it will create good outcomes.’
 
The researchers said their study underscores the need for ADHD intervention and treatment to ‘comprehensively address the behavioural, psychological, and educational needs of the child’ to improve overall health and wellbeing.
 
‘It also highlights the need to explore the effects of combining pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for more holistic improvement in children’s wellbeing,’ the study said.
 
‘Given the negative association between caregiver’s mental health and children’s health-related quality of life, supporting caregivers is essential to improve family functioning, children’s social-emotional aspects, and overall wellbeing.
 
‘ADHD treatment needs to address psychosocial and learning needs in addition to ADHD core symptoms.’
 
The findings come amid ‘considerable increases’ in ADHD prescriptions over the last decade.
 
For those aged 12–17 there were almost 1.2 million Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescriptions dispensed for the treatment of ADHD in 2023–24 compared to 250,000 in 2013–14.
 
Turning to adults living with ADHD, a 2025 study found they also suffer significant quality of life impacts, including a reduction in life expectancy of 6.78 years for males and 8.64 years for females.
 
‘We believe that this is likely caused by modifiable risk factors and unmet support and treatment needs in terms of both ADHD and co-occurring mental and physical health conditions,’ the study said.
 
Associate Professor John Kramer, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurodiversity, said with high potential for ADHD to have a negative impact on quality of life, for both children and adults, ‘treatment is always multimodal’.
 
‘Sometimes it can be more straightforward things, like introducing structure, regular exercise, good quality sleep,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘ADHD is very highly genetic … that’s always important to acknowledge because if ADHD in a parent is not recognised or they’re not assisted in some way, their ability to follow through for the children is greatly impaired.
 
‘But they’re also a very rewarding group of patients to treat because when things are all sorted and you’ve lined up your ducks, you can turn people’s lives around.’
 
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ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder