New York, New York

End Date October 31, 2020

Primary Contact Leeann Trimarchi

Email Ltrimarchi1@fordham.edu

Phone (908) 872 7307

Study Details

The purpose of the proposed study is to explore potential overshadowing related to
assessment and diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety disorder(s) by investigating the experiences of
school-aged students. Of particular interest is the primary research question: is there evidence of
clinical overshadowing among school-aged students diagnosed with ADHD but not diagnosed
with an anxiety disorder? In response to this overarching research question, there are three
hypotheses that will be investigated: (1) among school-aged students diagnosed with ADHD, a
significant percentage of students will indicate evidence of symptoms that meet criteria for an
anxiety disorder (i.e., meet cutoff score for elevated anxiety), based on their responses on the
Self-report Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-2); (2) among school-aged
students diagnosed with ADHD, participating students will report currently receiving or being
offered treatment associated with ADHD but not treatment for an anxiety disorder; and (3)
among school-aged students diagnosed with ADHD, a greater number of females will report
MASC-2 scores that meet the cutoff for elevated anxiety as compared to the MASC-2 scores
reported by males.
A sample of approximately 60 to 80 school-aged students who carry a diagnosis of
ADHD will be recruited for this study. These participants will complete a brief demographic
survey, which will evaluate the factors of gender, age, currently received interventions, and other
diagnoses. Also, they will complete the MASC-2 Self-Report to assess for symptoms of anxiety.