On this episode, we explore the research and initiatives of Dr. Will Canu, a clinical psychologist and professor at Appalachian State University, focusing on ADHD, particularly in college students. Dr. Canu discusses ADHD's characteristics, challenges with self-diagnosis driven by social media, and his innovative intervention, "Thriving in College with ADHD," a skills training program designed to aid students in managing ADHD symptoms. The episode also highlights the Appalachian Adult ADHD Lab's research and collaborations, the unique structure of the university's PsyD program, and its mission to address rural mental health needs. Dr. Canu's work aims to bridge gaps in ADHD support and education, emphasizing accessibility and evidence-based strategies. Show Notes Connect with Dr. Will Canu: canuwh@appstate.edu Links Appalachian Adult ADHD Lab Transcript Fletcher: Welcome to Appalachian Excellence, a show where we feature Appalachian State University research, scholarship, and creative activity that creates solutions and inspires change. We're here to bring you stories of incredible work happening right here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I'm your host, Karen Fletcher, where my day job has me working in the Office of Research and Innovation here at App State. And I've got my producer, Dave Blanks, in the studio with me. Hey, Dave. Blanks: Hey, Karen. What's up? How's it going? Fletcher: Oh, it's going well. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Dr. Will Canu, the Appalachian State University 2024 Provost Awardee for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity. Dr. Canu is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor in the Appalachian State University's Department of Psychology and the affiliated Doctor Of Psychology Program, also known as PsyD. He earned his PhD in clinical psychology in 2004 from the University of Texas at Austin and was an assistant professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology before coming to App State in 2007. While at App State, he has served impressively in one summer as a director of the Appalachian Loft in New York City and also led and taught a group of psychology majors abroad at Keele University in Northern England in the fall of 2015. The main topic of Dr. Canu's research is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. He has published over 50 articles, several chapters, and two books in this area, including an intervention that is aimed to help college students with ADHD to succeed. Dr. Canu lives in Boone with his family. Hello, Will. Canu: Hey, how's it going, Karen? Fletcher: It's going great. Thanks so much for coming out today. Canu: Yeah. Sure. My pleasure. Fletcher: Before we dive into your intervention that I'm very interested to hear about, can you tell our audience a little bit about ADHD and how it afflicts those who have it? Canu: Sure. Yeah. ADHD is a relatively common psychological disorder that emerges in childhood and adolescence. The core characteristics of ADHD really are inattention and hyperactivity. Although, in addition to that, one of the things that's become more and more known about it is that it's also associated with a kind of emotional dysregulation. ADHD is something that affects about 5 to 8% is a fairly conservative estimate of children and adolescents in the United States and it's a disorder that persists longer than a lot of people really realize. For a long time, ADHD was thought of as kind of terminating in adolescence, but the more that we've learned about it, the more we know that this is something that for many people affects them across their entire lives. So when you think about the population of adults in the United States, it may be 4 or 5% overall that might meet criteria for the disorder. Fletcher: So when you say that starts in adolescence, is that something where the adults would just continue through adulthood or is that something where they may develop it in adulthood? Canu: That's a really good question and it's actually a source of some controversy nowadays. In the last decade or so, there have been several papers that on the one hand suggested maybe ADHD is something that could start for people in adulthood, and then on the other hand, reviewing the evidence that suggests that really that's not the case. And the way things have fallen with that is that the broad consensus is that ADHD is something that begins in childhood for people. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders actually says that the symptoms need to have been present before age 12, but some people don't meet the necessary number of symptoms at that age. They become more prominent as they get older, so you definitely have people who are in their late teens, early 20s, even later, who are getting diagnosed with ADHD. But in those cases, there is evidence that you can look back and collect that they did have those symptoms as a child. They just weren't impaired by it at that ...
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48 mins