The Appalachian Adult ADHD Lab (AAA Lab) is led by Dr. Will Canu and is devoted primarily to investigating the assessment, features, course, consequences, comorbidities, and treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, with a special focus on college students. Since it's establishment in 2007, our team has completed several studies, including examinations of adjustment and behavior of romantic couples with and without ADHD partners, validation of a measure of impairment in adults with ADHD, potential alternate diagnostic criteria for ADHD in emerging adulthood, how ADHD is associated with stress and quality of life in a large community sample of adults, how ADHD is associated with academic-related anxieties in college students, expectancies and valuations of alcohol use in ADHD versus non-ADHD college students, sex differences in the reporting of ADHD symptoms and impairment in college students, application of manualized CBT for adult ADHD in college students (in person and online), the impact of parenting in childhood on adjustment of college students with ADHD, the relationship between ADHD traits and executive functioning skills in college students, the accuracy of knowledge regarding ADHD in teacher trainees relative to undergraduate peers, stigma related to ADHD in college students, definition and associations of varying types of "late onset" ADHD, the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining on community mental health, and the effects of antioxidants on cognitive functioning.
Active streams in Dr. Canu's research include
- Attention-Deficit Disorders: Development, adjustment, and treatment of individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other attention-related disorders across the lifespan.
- Rural Clinical Psychology: Mental health outcomes and applied practice in rural communities.
Dr. Canu and his graduate and undergraduate assistants are currently engaged in several projects.
Dr. Canu offers at least on an annual basis opportunities for undergraduates or prospective graduate students in the ASU clinical psychology graduate program to join the lab at various levels of involvement. Dr. Canu is interested in having a new doctoral student join the lab in the coming year. For more information about Appalachian's Clinical Psychology PsyD program, click here.
For other information or general inquiries, you can contact Dr. Canu at canuwh@appstate.edu.