Broadly our lab our is interested in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its impact on daily life including social relationships, academics, family functioning and the transition into adulthood. One area of impairment for individuals with ADHD with potentially life-threatening consequences is driving.
The SLU ADHD Lab's primary aim is to reduce motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries among adolescents with ADHD. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among adolescents ages 15-19 and adolescents with ADHD are particularly at-risk for crashes and other negative driving outcomes. Interventions improving driving of adolescents with ADHD could prevent 28,200 crashes and as many as 27,950 crash-related injuries and 250 crash-related deaths per year.
In this lab we are most interested in how attention difficulties contribute to driving problems experienced by adolescents with ADHD. We use state-of-the-art of technology including driving simulation, mobile eye tracking, and experimental methods to examine difficulties experienced by adolescent drivers with ADHD. In addition, we use databases such as the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA) to examine driving outcomes of individuals with a childhood history of ADHD. Please see the Research Page for more information about our on-going projects.