Why Are Individuals With ADHD More Prone to Boredom?

Introduction

Boredom might sound like just a passing annoyance, but research shows it can have serious ripple effects—linking to depression, anxiety, self-harm, car accidents, lower grades, and job dissatisfaction.

Psychologists talk about two types of boredom:

  • Trait boredom: a person’s general tendency to get bored more easily.
  • State boredom: the temporary experience of boredom in a situation.

This study focused on trait boredom—how prone someone is to feeling bored in daily life.

One major theory (the Cognitive Theory of Boredom) suggests that boredom comes from an attention problem: you want to engage, but your brain won’t stay locked onto the task. Imagine trying to read a chapter and realizing you’ve reread the same paragraph five times. Instead of thinking, my attention won’t stick today, it often feels like this book is so boring.

Attention control (steering focus and resisting distractions) and working memory (holding and working with information in the moment) are two mental skills that keep us engaged. They’re also areas where ADHD brains tend to work differently. That’s why the researchers asked: could these differences explain why ADHD and boredom often go hand in hand?

Methods

Participants

The study included 88 college students (average age about 19; most were women). They were divided into two groups:

  • ADHD traits group (31 students): These participants showed enough current and childhood ADHD symptoms on screening tools to suggest consistent ADHD traits. Some already had an ADHD diagnosis or used ADHD medication.
  • Control group (57 students): These students scored low on ADHD measures and had no diagnosis or ADHD medication history.

Measures

Everyone completed:

  • Questionnaires: measuring ADHD symptoms (past and present) and proneness to boredom.
  • Computer tasks: six total, split evenly between attention control tasks (like identifying target arrows among distractors, or staying focused during long wait times) and working memory tasks (remembering letters, arrows, or shapes while solving problems).

The tasks weren’t about “right answers” so much as about measuring how the brain balances focus, distraction, and memory under pressure.

Procedure

All measures were completed in a single two-hour lab session. Researchers alternated between computerized tasks and self-report surveys to prevent fatigue.

Results

Group Differences

  • Students with ADHD traits scored much higher on boredom proneness than those without ADHD. This was not a small difference—it was very large.
  • They also showed lower performance on both attention control and working memory tasks overall, though not every individual test showed a gap.

Correlations

  • Higher boredom proneness went along with more ADHD symptoms.
  • More boredom was linked with weaker attention control and weaker working memory.
  • Certain tasks stood out: sustained attention tasks (long, slow, waiting tasks) and visuospatial memory tasks (holding visual information in mind) were especially tied to boredom.

Mediation Analyses

When the researchers tested whether attention control and working memory explained some of the ADHD–boredom link:

  • Attention control explained about 5.8% of the connection.
  • Working memory explained about 6.4%.

    • Both mattered, but neither explained the whole story.

Discussion

This study confirms what many ADHD folks already feel: boredom shows up not because we’re lazy or careless, but because of how our brains manage focus and working memory.

The findings fit the Cognitive Theory of Boredom—boredom arises when attention drifts away from what we want to focus on. For ADHD brains, keeping attention steady and holding information online takes more effort, which may create frustration and the sense that tasks are “boring.”

The researchers also connected this to brain science: the default mode network (a brain system active during daydreaming and resting) doesn’t “turn off” as reliably during tasks in ADHD brains. That can mean more drifting into internal thoughts, more struggles with engagement, and therefore, more boredom.

Limitations

  • The study had a small, mostly female college student sample. Results may not apply to all ages or genders.
  • ADHD was screened through questionnaires rather than full clinical interviews.
  • Smaller effects might have been missed because of the limited sample size.

Implications

For daily life, this means boredom in ADHD can be seen as a signal, not a flaw. Strategies may include:

  • Breaking tasks into shorter chunks (so the brain has less load at once).
  • Adding variety or meaning to tasks (to keep the brain engaged).
  • Studying/working with a partner or taking planned breaks to reset attention.
  • Using challenging but stimulating tasks to reduce boredom and hold focus.

In therapy or education, helping ADHD individuals recognize boredom as connected to attention control—not personal failure—can reduce shame and guide better support strategies.

Key Takeaways

  • Boredom proneness is significantly higher in ADHD. The difference is large and real, not imagined.
  • Attention control and working memory partly explain this link. When these mental processes are taxed, boredom shows up more strongly.
  • Boredom is not laziness. It reflects how an ADHD brain’s attention and memory systems engage with tasks.
  • Practical support matters. Structuring tasks, introducing breaks, and adding personal meaning or stimulation can reduce boredom’s impact.
  • For professionals: Recognizing boredom as a cognitive and emotional state—not a moral failing—helps guide affirming interventions in school, work, and therapy settings.

Reference

Orban, S. A., Blessing, J. S., Sandone, M. K., Conness, B., & Santer, J. (2025). Why are individuals with ADHD more prone to boredom? Examining attention control and working memory as mediators of boredom in young adults with ADHD traits. Journal of Attention Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547251356723