# Mindfulness Intervention for College Students with ADHD

> **NIH NIH R15** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN TUSCALOOSA · 2023 · $443,458

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that commonly persists into
adulthood. Stimulant and non-stimulant pharmacotherapies are the mainstay of treatment; however, non-
pharmacological interventions such as mindfulness have significant empirical support. The Mindful Awareness
Practices (MAPs) for ADHD program, an 8-week, group-based mindfulness program for adults with ADHD, has
been shown to reduce ADHD, depression, and anxiety symptoms. While promising, it is unknown as to
whether the MAPs protocol is feasible, acceptable, and efficacious for college students with ADHD. The
current study takes the first step towards enhanced study of mindfulness for college students with ADHD by
testing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an adapted MAPs protocol delivered within
university counseling center settings during the first semester of college. First-year college students with ADHD
will be recruited through the University of Alabama’s Office of Disability Services and Wofford College’s
Accessibility Services. After developing and beta testing an adapted MAPs intervention at both sites, students
will be randomized to adapted MAPs or Services-As-Usual (SAU; standard academic support services
provided by university disability/accessibility offices). Groups will include 10 first-year students and will be run
over a 2-year period in the fall semesters (i.e., 4 MAPs groups across the two sites; total MAPs n = 40; total
SAU n = 40). MAPs groups will be led by trained therapists in university counseling centers. Assessments will
occur at pre, post, and 6-month follow-up using measures of ADHD, sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), anxiety,
and depression symptoms along with emotion regulation and mindfulness, our hypothesized mechanisms of
change. Aims of the project are to: 1) adapt, manualize, and beta test the intervention, 2) conduct a pilot RCT
of adapted MAPs compared to SAU and examine feasibility and acceptability measures and clinical outcomes,
and 3) examine whether the adapted MAPs intervention changes the targets hypothesized to be associated
with changes in clinical outcomes (i.e., emotional regulation, mindfulness). If adequate feasibility, acceptability,
and preliminary efficacy are documented, mindfulness for college students with ADHD can continue to be
evaluated in larger trials. If ultimately found to be efficiacious, this protocol has the potential to be widely
disseminated within college counseling centers to have a broader public health impact for college students with
ADHD. It should be noted that the importance of developmental transitions for those with ADHD has been
highlighted in recent funding opportunities at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). For example,
funding opportunities have focused on developmental transitions broadly (RF-MH-20-100) as well as specific
transitions such as the preschool to elementary school transition (RFA-MH-2...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10730772
- **Project number:** 1R15MH134195-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN TUSCALOOSA
- **Principal Investigator:** Dane Hilton
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $443,458
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10730772

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10730772, Mindfulness Intervention for College Students with ADHD (1R15MH134195-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10730772. Licensed CC0.

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