A survey study in Ireland compared two groups of adult women. The ADHD group had 377 women who met an ADHD symptom screen. The comparison group had 225 women who did not. The researchers removed another 199 people for incomplete or mismatched answers. The paper did not report race, ethnicity or socioeconomic data.
About a third of the ADHD group reported irregular periods (33.4%). The share was lower in the non-ADHD group (20.0%). PMDD was far more common in the ADHD group (40.3%). It was rare in the non-ADHD group (6.2%). Mothers recalled their mood after their first birth, and the ADHD group scored higher for postpartum depression. The study counted who scored above 10 on that scale. Most of the ADHD group did (88.0%). Over half of the non-ADHD group also did (57.1%). The ADHD group also reported more unplanned pregnancies.
Among women around or after menopause, the ADHD group reported more anxiety, low mood and physical symptoms. Vasomotor scores did not differ. The paper contradicts itself on whether sexual problems differed. In both groups, stronger ADHD symptoms went along with worse symptoms at each stage.
The one-time survey cannot show cause, and older women recalled past periods. Some women may have met the screen because of other mental health conditions. The non-ADHD menopause group was older, and the ADHD group used more medication. The authors suggest that health providers routinely ask women with ADHD about menstrual health, pregnancy planning, postpartum mood and menopause symptoms.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- Boyd, 2026: menstrual regularity across regular, irregular and unknown, chi2 = 14.2, p < .001.
- Boyd, 2026: PMS and PMDD levels, chi2(2) = 203.98, p < .001.
- Boyd, 2026: recalled postpartum depression (EPDS) total, ADHD vs non-ADHD, 17.90 (SD 6.76) vs 11.71 (SD 7.04), t = 7.9, p < .001.
- Boyd, 2026: share scoring above 10 on the EPDS, 190 (88.0%) vs 68 (57.1%) (chi2 = 41.2, p < .001).
- Boyd, 2026: unplanned pregnancies, means 0.77 vs 0.56, Mann-Whitney U = 13252.5, p = .012.
- Boyd, 2026: menopause symptom (GCS) total, 32.1 (SD 9.99) vs 18.5 (SD 9.13), t = 9.614, p < .001.
- Boyd, 2026: menopause anxiety, depression and somatic (physical) scores, anxiety 10.7 (3.17) vs 5.4 (3.32), t = 11.388; depression 9.3 (3.13) vs 5.0 (3.03), t = 9.531; somatic 7.4 (4.36) vs 4.2 (3.23), t = 5.499, all p < .001.
- Boyd, 2026: vasomotor score, 2.7 (1.93) vs 2.4 (1.94), t = 1.012, p = 0.313.
- Boyd, 2026: sexual dysfunction score in Table 4, 2.0 (1.02) vs 1.5 (1.07), t = 3.042, p = 0.003.
- Boyd, 2026: link between ADHD symptoms and premenstrual, postpartum and menopause totals across everyone, r = .69 (n = 600), r = .51 (n = 335) and r = .64 (n = 218).
- Boyd, 2026: the same links within each group were smaller, for example menopause r = .47 (n = 148) with ADHD and r = .26 (n = 70) without. What the terms mean:
- chi2 A test of whether two groups differ in how often something happens.
- t A test of whether two group averages differ.
- Mann-Whitney U A test of whether two groups differ when the data are uneven, such as counts of pregnancies.
- p How likely a difference at least this large would be if there were no real difference. Below .05 is usually read as unlikely to be down to chance.
- SD How spread out the scores were around the average.
- r How closely two measures move together. 0 means no link, and values nearer 1 mean a closer link.
- n The number of people in that analysis.
- EPDS A questionnaire that scores postpartum depression symptoms.
- GCS A questionnaire that scores menopause symptoms.
Source: Boyd C, Wrigley M, Kilbride K, et al.. ADHD and the female reproductive stages: menstruation, perinatal and menopause. Archives of Women's Mental Health (2026). doi:10.1007/s00737-026-01718-x