1 ADHD is Predictive

ADHD is Predictive of Low Job Satisfaction Travis Applebaum College of Western Idaho

2 ADHD is Predictive Abstract Job satisfaction is how happy a person is with a job. It is influenced by many factors. There are many disabilities which might affect how positively a person might view their job. ADHD negatively effects the appraisal of ones job satisfaction. The work place is where employees and employers come together. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a childhood syndrome characterized by developmentally inappropriate inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity which produces impairment at home and school. People with ADHD have trouble with long term employment, and they have difficulty achieving success in school. Keywords: ADHD, ADD, job satisfaction, disability, workplace, employment

ADHD is Predictive of Low Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is defined by Locke as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences (Brief, 2002, 283). It is how happy a worker is with their job. There are many factors which can enhance or reduce the positive feelings a person feels towards a given job. Some come from external situations at home like martial problems or difficulty with finances. These while important for getting a full picture of a single persons total emotional state in life are beyond the scope of this paper. (Brief (Weiss) 2002, 286) According to Karen Puglisi some aspects of a job that can reduce pleasure and thus reduce job satisfaction include: deadlines, emotional work, low pay, duties, level of oversight, level of autonomy, responsibilities, level of happiness with particular field of work and feelings of social integration. How many of these feelings are internalized is subjective in nature and differs

3 ADHD is Predictive depending on the individuals life experiences preferences and temperaments (Brief (Weiss) 2002, 286). (Pugelsi, 1999, 125 -152) Most sex, race, age differences as well as disabilities are protected by special laws. One disability in which there is a poor outcome from a job satisfaction perspective is ADHD. Carol painter states, Adhd symptoms were significantly predictive of dysfunctional career beliefs, decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, and external conflict. .(178 painter 2008) According to Bruce Arnold in It Just Doesn't Add Up: Adhd/Add, The Workplace And Discrimination, Standard workplace conditions that are commonly perceived as neutral and reasonable can discriminate against people who find conforming to them difficult or impossible because of innate differences in neuronal and cognitive functioning.( It doesnt add up 359) This paper will discuss the work place, ADHD, and ADHD in the work place to

show that ADHD can lower the job satisfaction of those who have it. Definition of the workplace: The work place is a place where employees and employers come together. It is a plane that exist where things are produced towards an end goal, whether services or products. No longer is the workplace bound to an entirely physical location with the advent of telecommuting. The agreement is that employees provide their time, services, and knowledge for monetary gain from their employer, and the employer gains something that they can profit from. In this construct, there are many treacherous stressors to be navigated. Stress can be one of the most difficult obstacles to be overcome in the work place because it encompasses a large range of issues from social, customer and managerial interactions to difficulty meeting deadlines and accomplishing goals. Vocation can be a source of fulfillment and can create a sense of

4 ADHD is Predictive accomplishment for a great many workers, but it can also be a source of pain and drudgery depending on how the workplace is setup or the type of work that one participates in. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a childhood syndrome characterized by developmentally inappropriate inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity which produces impairment at home and school. Long-term outcome is poor. (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, 2005) In the United States, the guidelines for diagnosing ADHD are in DSMIV. The DSM-IV definition lists 18 behaviors as grounds for diagnosis of ADHD: difficulty sustaining attention, fails to finish, avoids sustained effort, distracted by stimuli, does not seem to listen, fails to give close attention, has difficulty organizing tasks, Impulsivity, loses things, is forgetful, blurts out answers, interrupts or intrudes, cannot wait, fidgets, cannot play quietly, talks excessively, always on the go, leaves seat, runs about and climbs. All of these behaviors fall into two domains: inattention, and hyperactivity/ impulsivity.(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, 2005) The symptoms of ADHD can be treated with a variety of

medications. A person will seek out treatment to alleviate symptoms which might be interfering with school or work responsibilities. Along with ADHD, many people have comorbidities which can further impair work function. According to Bruce Arnold studies show that adults and adolescents with ADHD are more likely to smoke, to abuse and to be dependent on alcohol and other substances, and to be overweight or obese. They have a greater chance of having Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, eating disorders, and Avoidant, Obsessive- Compulsive, Passive-Aggressive, Depressive, Paranoid, Borderline and Antisocial Personality Disorders. They tend to score higher on scales of psychological maladjustment, including somatization, obsessive-compulsive, phobic, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, hostility, paranoid ideation and psychoticism scales. They also exhibit higher levels of problem behaviors including withdrawal, aggressiveness and delinquency. (364, 2010)

5 ADHD is Predictive The comorbidities alone can cause people with ADHD have significantly lower job satisfaction than other groups but there are also a number of other possibilities that may contribute ADHD people having lower job satisfaction. Carol Painter states, when adults with ADHD assume full-time jobs that require independence of supervision, acceptance of responsibility, and periodic training in new knowledge or skills, their deficits in attention, impulse control, selfregulation and organizational abilities are often problematic.(178 painter 2008) Further Painter states that adults with ADHD have a characteristic inability to learn from their experiences [that] interferes with their ability to accomplish goals.(179 painter 2008) Because of the difficulty learning from previous experiences they find themselves in

jobs that they do not like. This would occur when a person with ADHD finds them self in an entry level position. Some examples of entry level positions might include being a pizza delivery person, customer service representative at a call center, sales associate at a store, or store cashier. The reason a person with ADHD might find themselves in these types of positions more so than the average population is that ADHD suffers have a higher job turnover rate when compared to people who do not have ADHD. In a study done by Michele Toner, she had one participant report having had over twenty jobs where as another had more jobs than he could remember(2006 253) The turnover rate can either be from an employer firing an underperforming ADHD person, or from the ADHD person quitting a job that they find uninteresting or unchallenging. In fact, according to Toner, Many cited boredom as the reason for moving from job to job, often moving to a new town with each new job, in search of excitement. (263) Some people with ADHD are fired from their jobs due to lack of organizational skills required to complete the work, over-focusing on unimportant aspects of the job and therefore not meeting deadlines, and lastly personality clashes with employers or

6 ADHD is Predictive other members of staff.(Toner 263) Because ADHD sufferers have higher job turnover rate, they are not likely to progress as far in their field as their non ADHD peers. It is in these processes that an ironic spiral begins. An example of the above is when the job that the ADHD person has is not exciting enough, the ADHD person quits only to find the only jobs available are boring or unchallenging because of their lack of skills from not staying at their previous job where they could develop skills necessary to achieve a higher position. They lose interest in the new job which causes them not to be able meet deadlines and then are fired. As this continues over the course of the ADHD sufferers life, it puts them into in a prone position. They are at the bottom which potentially leads to a feeling of insecurity because they have low levels of control and can be fired more easily. Their input is less important, and they have no real voice or control over their job. A similar problem occurs for a person with ADHD when they are involved in

an academic setting where they are unlikely to progress as far as their non-impaired cohort. Painter states, Research has established that [ADHD] characteristics can have detrimental effects on the educational achievementof adults with the disorder.(179 2008) Thomas W. Frazier states, Poor academic performance is among the most prominent features associated with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).(49 2007) Based on the above problems with inattention, difficulty organizing task and hyperactivity leading to difficulty finishing task and completing goals, a person with ADHD would have a harder time getting their assignments done. They would have lower GPA and be at risk for higher drop out level because they cannot handle the work load that they are given. They

would be at a disadvantage to their unimpaired peers, as well. Getting back into the job market, people with ADHD exhibiting the above symptoms would not make as good of employees because they cannot handle as much work as their peers. Employers describe adults with

7 ADHD is Predictive untreated ADHD as less adequate at fulfilling work demands, less likely to work independently and to complete task, and less likely to get along with supervisors(Painter, 178) They would perform jobs that required lesser education and thus would be at lower levels in the workplace hierarchy. When in a requiring more autonomy and higher responsibility, an ADHD sufferer

would have a lower job satisfaction than that of their normal peer because their constant turmoil would cause an increased level of stress.

One of the cruxes of the ADHD dissatisfaction is in the cognitive processing theory by Peterson, Sampson, et al . Potentially ADHD suffers have find themselves having a harder time accomplishing task

. References
References

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (2005). In Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/wileycs/attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder Arnold, B., Easteal, P., Easteal, S., & Rice, S. (2010). It just doesn't add up: ADHD/ADD, the workplace and discrimination. Melbourne University Law Review, 34(2), 359-391. Brief, A. P., & Weiss, H. M. (2002). ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: Affect in the Workplace. Annual Review Of Psychology, 53(1), 279.

8 ADHD is Predictive Frazier, T. W., Youngstrom, E. A., Glutting, J. J., & Watkins, M. W. (2007). ADHD and achievement: Meta-analysis of the child, adolescent, and adult literatures and a concomitant study with College Students. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 40(1), 49-65. Painter, C. A., Prevatt, F., & Welles, T. (2008). Career beliefs and job satisfaction in adults with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal Of Employment Counseling, 45(4), 178-188.

Pugliesi, K. (1999). The consequences of emotional labor: Effects on work stress, job satisfaction, and well-being. Motivation & Emotion, 23(2), 125-154. Toner, M., O'Donoghue, T., & Houghton, S. (2006). Living in chaos and striving for control: How adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder deal with their disorder.

International Journal Of Disability, Development & Education, 53(2), 247-261. doi:10.1080/10349120600716190