Partner’s Adult ADHD Can Harm a Woman’s Mental Health

Having a husband or boyfriend with adult ADHD can harm a woman’s mental stability, a new study suggests.

About 3 in 5 women (59%) with male partners with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had symptoms of depression, a rate on par with caregivers who help loved ones deal with health problems like autism, heart rhythm disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and kidney failure, researchers report.

The women also had lower quality of life scores than folks whose partners suffer from health challenges like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and stroke, results showed.

“Our findings emphasize the importance of viewing ADHD as a condition that impacts not only the individual but also their close relationships,” concluded the research team led by Adina Maeir, a professor of medicine with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Occupational Therapy in Israel.

“By addressing the well-being of partners, we can take a more holistic approach to treatment, offering both individuals and couples the tools they need to improve their quality of life,” the researchers wrote in a university news release.

For the study, the team recruited 100 heterosexual Israeli couples in which the man had been diagnosed with ADHD.

On average, couples had been together for about nine years, with 65 married and 35 living together.

Both the men and the women filled out questionnaires related to the man’s ADHD symptoms. Women also were screened for depression, quality of life and other measures of well-being.

Results showed that the more affected a man was by his ADHD symptoms, the more likely a woman was to develop depressive symptoms or report a lower quality of life.

Likewise, women reported better quality of life if their men more consistently took their ADHD medication, researchers found.

The results are in line with other studies which “suggest that pharmacological treatments can mitigate ADHD symptoms and lessen their functional repercussions,” the researchers wrote.

“These findings may imply that pharmacological treatments may also have a beneficial effect on partners as well as individuals with ADHD,” they added.

Women can manage some of these negative effects by taking care of themselves, results indicate.

Those women who were more focused on their own health — working out, enjoying social time with friends, taking time for themselves — tended to have less depression and better quality of life, despite having a partner with ADHD.

The new study was published recently in the Journal of Attention Disorders.

The results “support the positive association between women’s engagement in health-promoting activities and their mental health outcomes, even when accounting for the negative effects of their partner’s ADHD-related functional impairment,” the researchers wrote.

More information

The Attention Deficit Disorder Association has more on ADHD in adults.

SOURCE: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, news release, Sept. 19, 2024