Reduced organizational skills in adults with ADHD are due to deficits in persistence, not in strategies.

Guillaume Durand, Ioana-Smarandita Arbone, Monica Wharton

Open access · goldAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in PeerJ, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

4citing papers in PubMed

0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 41% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

Families with neurodevelopmental diagnoses are not 'Hard to Reach': Findings from a feasibility trial comparing parenting programmes for parents of children with ADHD.PloS one · 2025
Trial
Prevalence of adult attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder symptoms among university students and their relation to sleeping duration, time management skills, and academic performance.PeerJ · 2026
Article
Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Predicting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
Article
Exploring the relationship between ADHD, its common comorbidities, and their relationship to organizational skills.PeerJ · 2022
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Guillaume DurandSchool of Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Spirituality, St. Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Ioana-Smarandita ArboneDepartment of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Monica WhartonSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Saint Paul University · CAUniversity of Ottawa · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is commonly associated with poor organizational skills, as per the definition of ADHD. However, the contribution of each of the following factors (and their interactions) to the aforementioned poor organization, while comparing individuals with and without ADHD, has not been analyzed in-depth: Work Organization; Communication Clarity; Punctuality; Goal-oriented behaviour; Assiduity; Workspace Organization; Strategies; and Attentiveness. The purpose is to examine the self-reported levels of organizational skills in adults with and without ADHD.

methodsSeven hundred seventy-four (

resultsParticipants with a diagnosis of ADHD displayed lower scores than individuals without a diagnosis of ADHD on all organizational skills with the exception of using strategies to remain organized and learn new information. Higher levels of education were associated with higher levels of organizational skills. While there was no difference between males and females with ADHD, females without ADHD scored higher than males without ADHD.

conclusionThis study supports that individuals with ADHD can efficiently develop strategies, but may have difficulties using those strategies in a continuous manner. Suggestions to increase organizational skills in adults with ADHD are presented.

Indexed as

Academic achievementsADHDGender differencesOrganizational skills

Identifiers

PMID33194353

DOI10.7717/peerj.9844

PMCPMC7485505

OpenAlexW3084402002

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.