(PS1-70) More Than Just Grit: Examining the Relation of Grit and ADHD Symptom Severity Across Race and Ethnicity

Racial and ethnic disparities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence exist in emerging adult (EAs) populations, with Hispanic/LatinX, Asian, and Black EAs reporting lower rates of diagnosis than White EAs (Jhawar & Antshel, 2023). Prior research attempting to understand the reasons for these disparities has investigated the role of various sociocultural risk factors (i.e., stigma, access to treatment; Liang et al., 2016). However, the potential roles of protective factors, including racial and ethnic differences in their relations with ADHD, remain comparatively understudied. One such factor is grit, which represents one’s perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Increases in grit have been associated with decreases in ADHD symptoms and impairment (Gray et al., 2016), with prior work also suggesting racial and ethnic differences in levels of grit (Zentner, 2016). Such differences may also translate to grit’s relation with ADHD symptom severity, as has been found in other psychosocial factors’ relations with psychopathology (Erving & Thomas, 2017). Yet, despite the potential of this work for informing culturally sensitive interventions for ADHD, no work has been conducted examining racial and ethnic differences in grit’s association with ADHD severity. The current study thus attempted to do so using data from a sample of EAs. Given prior research suggesting limitations in grit’s role in predicting outcomes in minoritized racial and ethnic groups (Locks et al., 2023), we hypothesized that the negative relation between grit and ADHD symptom severity would be stronger in White EAs than in Hispanic/LatinX, Asian, and Black EAs.

Participants were college students (aged 18-25) from two waves of a multi-university ADHD study in the U.S.: (1) Wave 10 (N = 1,643, M_age = 19.2, 30% male, 65% Non-Hispanic White, 15% Hispanic/LatinX, 12% Non-Hispanic Asian, 8% Non-Hispanic Black) and (2) Wave 11 (N = 978, M_age = 18.9, 32% male, 59% Non-Hispanic White, 20% Non-Hispanic Asian, 14% Hispanic/LatinX, 7% Non-Hispanic Black). Results across waves suggested that combined race and ethnicity significantly moderated the relation between grit and ADHD symptom severity (Wave 10: b = 2.91, SE = 1.31, p = .03; Wave 11: b = 3.49, SE = 1.62, p = .03). Analysis of simple slopes revealed that the negative relation between grit and ADHD symptom severity was stronger in White participants (b = -9.67, SE = .48, p < .01; b = -9.23, SE = .78, p < .01) than in Asian participants (b = -6.76, SE = 1.23, p < .01; b = -5.73, SE = 1.43, p < .01). Findings suggested grit may be less strongly linked to ADHD symptom severity in Asian versus White EAs, with consideration of other sociocultural factors needed to adequately conceptualize ADHD’s expression in Asian EA populations. Correspondingly, grit-based interventions may be associated with less reduction in ADHD symptom severity, and vice versa, in those who identify as Asian versus White. Results align with work discussing how an overemphasis on grit overlooks systemic barriers that minoritized racial and ethnic groups face and provides support for the development of culturally sensitive interventions that account for racial and ethnic differences in risk markers’ associations with ADHD.