BACKGROUND: High levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits are associated with various outcomes, including depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and low self-esteem. Additionally, individuals with high levels of ADHD traits are reported to be more adversely affected by fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The current study aimed to examine whether the association between ADHD traits and outcomes was partially mediated by fear of COVID-19 using mediation analysis. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of university students in medical-related faculties (n = 1,166). ADHD traits, fear of COVID-19, depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and self-esteem were assessed using the adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, K6 Scale, Sheehan Disability Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, respectively. We used linear regression analysis and the Paramed command in Stata to analyze whether fear of COVID-19 mediated the association between ADHD traits and outcomes. RESULTS: ADHD traits were significantly associated with outcomes. Regarding the impact of fear of COVID-19, the results revealed a significant association between ADHD traits and fear of COVID-19, and between fear of COVID-19 and outcomes. The results of the mediation analyses showed that the association between ADHD traits and outcomes was partially mediated by the fear of COVID-19 (depressive symptoms: direct effect B = 1.029, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.878, 1.181, indirect effect B = 0.021, 95% CI 0.002, 0.040; functional impairment: direct effect B = 0.786, 95% CI 0.593, 0.979, indirect effect B = 0.033, 95% CI 0.005, 0.060; self-esteem: direct effect B = -1.052, 95% CI -1.226, -0.878, indirect effect B = -0.024, 95% CI -0.046, -0.002). CONCLUSIONS Developing preventive measures against the adverse impacts of pandemics like COVID-19 will be particularly important for individuals with high levels of ADHD traits in future.
Humans ; COVID-19/psychology* ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Self Concept ; Male ; Female ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Fear/psychology* ; Young Adult ; Universities ; Students/psychology* ; Adult ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Mediation Analysis ; Adolescent

Guardians' perceptions of the oral food challenge (OFC) test with 1-day hospitalization have not yet been investigated. In this study, a questionnaire survey on the OFC test was distributed to guardians of children who underwent the test for food allergies with 1-day or overnight hospitalization between April 2015 and May 2016. Patients who underwent the test at other hospitals and those with incomplete responses were excluded. A total of 164 patientguardian pairs were included in this study, and the valid response rate was 68% (112/164). Among negative aspects of OFC with overnight hospitalization, the response “visiting the next day” was the most frequent at 74%(83 guardians) and was significantly more frequent than the responses “anxiety at night,” “consultation and questions the next day are possible,” and “observation time is long” (all p<0.01). Among the positive aspects of OFC with 1-day hospitalization, the response “no next-day visit” was the most frequent at 87%(97 guardians) and was significantly more frequent than the responses “relief at night,” “cannot go to work the next day,” and “observation time is short” (all p<0.01). Among the negative aspects of OFC with 1-day hospitalization, the response “anxiety at night” was the most frequent at 45% (50 guardians) and was significantly more frequent than the responses “no next-day visit,” “cannot go to work the next day,” and “observation time is short”（p<0.01, each). The number of patients whose child underwent the OFC test with 1-day hospitalization was significantly higher than that with overnight hospitalization (87 guardians [78%] vs.8 guardians [7%] , p<0.01). These results suggested that majority of the guardians preferred that OFC be performed with 1-day hospitalization because there was no need to visit the hospital again the next day. However, many guardians had anxiety at night in OFC with 1-day hospitalization.