ADHD and political participation: An observational study

Political attitudes and participation patterns—ADHD vs. Non-ADHD

Overall, individuals who screened positive for ADHD reported higher levels of political participation than those who screened negative, both digitally (e.g., expressing political opinions on social media) and in traditional ways (e.g., participating in a demonstration or a political convention, signing a petition). At the same time, participants with ADHD had a greater tendency to be passive consumers of news—i.e., waiting for political news to find them rather than actively seeking it out. Respondents with ADHD were also less tolerant towards others voicing their opinions. We did not observe a significant difference between participants with vs. without ADHD in their sense of representation, willingness to curb democratic norms, trust in political institutions, general interest in politics, or consumption of popular news media.