Identifying students faking ADHD: Preliminary findings and strategies for detection
Abstract
When conducting psychological evaluations, clinicians typically assume that the subject being evaluated is putting forth maximal effort and is not exaggerating or magnifying symptom complaints. While the field of neuropsychology has identified that factors, such as effort and motivation, can significantly interfere with correct interpretation of self-reported symptoms and test scores, evaluation methods for other psychological conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have not addressed effort and motivation as potential factors influencing accurate diagnosis. In analyzing the performance of students simulating ADHD, and comparing it to performance of both non-ADHD and genuine ADHD students, this study clearly demonstrated that the symptoms of ADHD are easily fabricated, and that simulators would be indistinguishable from those with true ADHD. In addition, students motivated to feign ADHD could easily perform poorly on tests of reading and processing speed, thus allowing them access to academic accommodations. Implications of these findings are discussed.
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Adolescent patients may attempt to obtain stimulant medication to enhance performance by feigning symptoms.
“adolescent patients may also attempt to obtain stimulant medication to enhance performance (ie, academic, athletic, etc) by feigning symptoms.48”
From Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents (2019) · cites this paper as [48]
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“Certain substances, such as marijuana, can have effects that mimic ADHD; adolescent patients may also attempt to obtain stimulant medication to enhance performance (ie, academic, athletic, etc) by feigning symptoms.(48)”
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- Authors
- HARRISON, A., EDWARDS, M., & PARKER, K.
- Affiliations
- Queen's University (CA)
- Hotel Dieu Hospital (CA)
- Corresponding author
- HARRISON, A
- Venue
- Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2007-06
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 577-588
- ISSN
- 0887-6177 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2123271456
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 6.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, feigned ADHD, symptom exaggeration, academic accommodations, reading achievement, processing speed, students, diagnostic accuracy, neuropsychological assessment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Female, Humans, Deception, Male, Malingering, Motivation, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychometrics, Reaction Time, Reading, Reproducibility of Results
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