Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais, 4M member and lecturer in Psychology at Queen Mary University of London has been awarded a new investigator research grant to study ADHD in girls and women across the life course which will be taking place over the next three years. The New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) is aimed at researchers who are capable of becoming independent principal investigators and who are now ready to take the next step towards that goal (UKRI).
Dr Agnew-Blais’ research has focused on ADHD over the life course. Having worked on the E-Risk study which assessed childhood risk and adult risk of ADHD, she found that ADHD was more prevalent in males during childhood, however the majority of cases emerging in adulthood were female. Jess mentioned that although this may be due to a lack of diagnosis in young girls, they found that many of the women that were deemed at-risk of ADHD in adulthood, were not deemed as being high-risk in childhood. This began to raise the question of whether the changes happening during adolescence may be contributing to the development of ADHD in females.
The majority of studies investigating ADHD focus either on childhood or adulthood, not many studies focus on or include adolescence. For example, longitudinal studies often go many years between survey waves whereby they might be missing out on adolescence entirely.
Overview of the Project
This project aims to understand the adolescent/adult emergence of ADHD in females and aspects of functioning with ADHD specific to women.
It will consist of both a secondary data analysis and an observational cohort study, to investigate whether:
- Girls with ADHD are being missed due to differences in the way in which it presents (e.g. emotional dysregulation)
- The changes happening during adolescence may contribute to the development of ADHD
- Hormonal changes caused by the menstrual cycle are associated with ADHD symptoms (in the Measuring Adult ADHD and Menstruation (MAAM) study, @theMAAMstudy)
The secondary data analysis for this project will use the ALSPAC and the ABCD study. The ABCD study is a United States dataset that collected data across puberty, including hormone levels.
As part of this award she is collaborating with researchers at King’s College London, Professor Jonna Kuntsi, and Professor Richard Dobson who is behind RADAR-base, a platform for using wearables in research. For the MAAM study, this grant will enable her to purchase the Oura Ring to collect data on menstrual cycle phases through basal body temperature.
When we asked Jess about whether there is any research out there that has investigated a link between ADHD and hormone changes in women, she said there actually isn’t as much as you would expect. Much of the hypotheses and evidence thus far have come from anecdotal evidence from women sharing their experiences on how ADHD changes throughout the month, interestingly this includes experiences on how their medication seems to be more effective at different phases of the menstrual cycle.
Her hypothesis, based on anecdotal evidence, is that functioning will be at its worst during the premenstrual phase, however she also stressed that it’s important to also focus on phases that may actually be better for functioning. Her hopes are that knowing the interplay between menstrual phases and ADHD symptoms, women can track their cycle to help them prepare and organise life events for the most appropriate menstrual cycle phases. To encapsulate this she quoted Dr. Sandra Kooji: “If you’re aware, you can prepare”. This knowledge will hopefully enable women to improve their functioning throughout the cycle, including for example increasing medication dosage at specific menstrual phases if required.
The Role of 4M
In the early planning stages of her grant application, Jess presented her ideas to 4M and received feedback from group members, which she stated was extremely beneficial and helpful in shaping the final project. As her background is primarily focused on mental health and ADHD, she found the input of women’s health researchers and clinicians really valuable. The networking of 4M enabled her project to be exposed to a wide variety of professionals from other areas and institutions which enabled what feels like a really comprehensive and holistic project. The logistics of studying the menstrual cycle are complex and the knowledge of 4M members was really helpful, especially for key aspects such as how to measure the menstrual cycle and the timings of follow ups.
Future Directions
In future, Jess would like to carry out a longitudinal study collecting data on mental health throughout the perimenopause and menopause, an important stage of women’s life we currently know so little about.
In order to carry out this project, Jess is hiring a Research Assistant and a Postdoc, whilst in parallel she also has a PhD student starting in September, 4M member Amandine Sénéquier.
4m 