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Supporting Adolescents With ADHD in Achieving Academic and Life Success

Supporting Adolescents With ADHD in Achieving Academic and Life Success 1024 538 Pam Georgiana
Facility image of the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavillion at Nationwide Children's Hospital

Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital focuses on improving ADHD assessment, treatment and coordination between clinical care and schools.

Steven W. Evans, PhD is a principal investigator in the Institute for Mental and Behavioral Health Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University. He has dedicated over 30 years to developing and evaluating interventions for adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related problems.

When he began his research, many clinicians believed children would outgrow ADHD during puberty. Although that misconception has been disproved, significant treatment gaps remain.

“There are a lot more issues related to emotion regulation, social challenges and depression for teens with ADHD than there are for children,” Dr. Evans says.

As children with ADHD enter adolescence, expectations for independence increase. Academic demands become more complex and social relationships change. Challenges with attention, organization and emotional regulation can have greater consequences than with young children.

Adolescents with ADHD also face increased risks of substance use, peer rejection and poor academic outcomes. Dr. Evans prioritizes interventions that address these broader concerns rather than simply reducing symptoms.

School-Based Interventions Offer Evidence-Based Options

Much of his research focuses on school-based interventions that integrate support into adolescents’ daily routines. Although evidence-based interventions exist for secondary schools, consistent implementation is challenging.

A new project with Nakeia L. Hudson, LISW-S, MBA and local schools participating in Nationwide Children’s School-Based Behavioral Health Service Program will examine what training and ongoing support teachers, counselors and other school personnel need to put these approaches into practice.

With assistance from colleague Alison Pence-Ward, MSW, LSW, the team will train school staff to implement evidence-based intervention and provide consultation support during the academic year. They will also measure the use of the interventions, while identifying barriers and facilitators of implementation to learn what additional support might be needed.

“Just going to a school and doing a workshop is unlikely to change the way people do things,” Dr. Evans says.

Dr. Evans is also collaborating with clinicians at Nationwide Children’s primary care and outpatient services to identify promising approaches for adolescents with ADHD and develop practical interventions that engage parents and enhance coordination with schools.

“We are developing ways to incorporate schools into clinic-based care, which has been really hard to do historically,” Dr. Evans says.

Assessing Symptoms and Measuring Progress

Developing effective treatments also requires reliable ways to assess symptoms and measure progress. In a recent review published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, he and colleagues evaluated commonly used ADHD assessment tools.

Diagnostic interviews and rating scales assessing symptoms and functioning remain the gold standard for evaluation. However, interpreting teacher ratings can be challenging in secondary schools, where students interact with multiple teachers who may observe very different behaviors.

Through the Benchmark Project, Dr. Evans is studying the reliability and validity of secondary school teacher ratings to help clinicians better interpret information from multiple teachers.

“You can’t know if something’s effective or not if you can’t measure the things that are supposed to change,” he says.

For Dr. Evans, improving treatment for adolescents with ADHD is particularly important during this vulnerable period of development.

“When a teen exhibits impulsivity and disorganization and depression and irritability all together, that’s a really tough mix to make it through some of the most challenging years of life,” he says.

 

 

Reference:

Bunford N, Koppány D, Ágrez K, Hámori G, Evans SW. Update on The Evidence-Based Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Youth. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2026;55(5):773-799. doi:10.1080/15374416.2026.2660295

Image Credit: Nationwide Children’s

About the author

Pam Georgiana is a brand marketing professional and writer located in Bexley, Ohio. She believes that words bind us together as humans and that the best stories remind us of our humanity. She specialized in telling engaging stories for healthcare, B2B services, and nonprofits using classic storytelling techniques. Pam has earned an MBA in Marketing from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

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