Speaker
Presentation in English
ANOUK SCHERES
Anouk Scheres is Associate Professor of Psychology at the Developmental Psychology Department at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Anouk obtained her PhD in Neuropsychology in 2002, after which she worked as a post-doc at New York University, and as Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona. Since 2010, Anouk works at Radboud University. Anouk’s research has focused on understanding cognitive (executive functions) and motivational (reward sensitivity, qualities of motivation) functioning in individuals with ADHD. To this end, she has used methods from experimental psychology and neuroscience. In addition, her more recent research aims at developing and examining the effects of interventions in individuals with ADHD, and at exploring lived experiences by people with ADHD including themes such as self-esteem an identity development.
In addition to her academic work, Anouk was trained as ADHD coach, and has started working in this field as well. Her mission is to keep combining science and coaching in the future, in order to support adults with ADHD in a way that is informed by science, and vice versa, to develop relevant research questions informed by her coach work. For example, recently she started examining moderators and mediators of the association between ADHD symptoms and low self-esteem; and she is examining the role of hyperfocus in the relation between ADHD symptom domains and creativity. Relevant to the current presentation, she is working on the MINE project Mapping Identity, Needs and Emotions in people with ADHD.
Anouk has received grants from American and Dutch national funding agencies and has published, together with her national and international collaborators, peer-reviewed articles in relevant journals in the field. In addition to research and coaching, she loves teaching and mentoring students
Who am I? Identity development in youngsters with ADHD
Individuals with ADHD experience impairment not only directly following from the core symptoms, but also indirectly as a consequence of living with ADHD. In clinical practice, we regularly observe that adolescents and adults with ADHD experience limited awareness of what they feel, what they need, and who they are. However, empirical evidence that could support these clinical observations, is as of yet limited.
Here, we will address this in the following way: We will present (1) an overview of the limited literature on identity development in relation to ADHD; (2) a model in which we hypothesize that individuals with ADHD may be hampered in their identity development – and the role awareness of needs and emotions may play; (3) qualitative interview data from 14 individuals with ADHD, about their experiences surrounding identity development and awareness of needs and emotions; (4) quantitative data from a recent survey in which we obtained cross-sectional self-report data in ~1000 young adults (16-25 years of age) on ADHD symptoms, identity development, and awareness of emotions and needs.
(1) and (2) are currently under review; (3) and (4) have been completed, and data-processing and analysis is ongoing.
The implications for future research and clinical practice will be discussed. Our hope is that the model provides a framework in which further research on identity development and ADHD can be embedded, and that it will inspire clinicians to include a focus on identity development in interventions for individuals with ADHD.
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