Understanding ADHD Through Connection, Context & the Whole Self
What happens when we stop viewing ADHD as a collection of deficits — and start recognizing how body, mind, and social experience interact? A new study offers fresh insight.
📚 A recent study explored how social connection (or loneliness) and body processes (such as metabolic hormones) relate to executive functioning in adolescents with ADHD.
The findings echo what many in the neurodiversity community already understand: ADHD traits are shaped not just by brain differences, but by relationships, environments, and the ways the body and mind communicate.
Here’s what the study found:
🧠 Adolescents with ADHD showed consistently higher levels of leptin, a hormone involved in metabolism, energy regulation, and body signaling, compared to neurotypical peers, regardless of loneliness level.
🤝 Among teens with ADHD, those reporting lower levels of loneliness had executive function scores (skills like planning, focus, and impulse management) similar to neurotypical peers.
🤝 Teens with ADHD who reported moderate to high levels of loneliness experienced greater challenges with executive function.
📚 What this tells us:
This study adds to a growing body of knowledge that affirms:
ADHD-related experiences aren’t static traits locked inside an individual. They’re shaped through an ongoing interaction of body, mind, and social world.
🤝 Connection and belonging matter. This study found a relationship between loneliness and executive functioning in teens with ADHD. While we can’t conclude a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the findings highlight the importance of creating inclusive, affirming environments, as social experiences are linked to cognitive and emotional well-being.
🧠 The body and mind are interconnected. Hormonal and metabolic patterns play a role in the experience of ADHD, not as something to “fix,” but as part of a whole-person understanding that respects neurodivergent embodiment.
📚 Moving away from deficit-based thinking allows us to see that many ADHD-related challenges arise through interaction with an often-inaccessible world.
Connection, inclusion, and respect for body-mind diversity are key to fostering thriving.
If you take one thing away:
Belonging isn’t extra. It’s essential. Support the whole person, and executive function can flourish.
Chen, L., Hsu, J., Bai, Y., Tsai, S., & Chen, M. (2025). Effect of loneliness on appetite hormone dysregulation and cognitive dysfunction among adolescents with ADHD. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 163, 105046.
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Kristen McClure MSW, LCSW