Q: “My Teen Fears Driving Because of His ADHD”
What to say to teens who fear driving and worry that their ADHD symptoms will lead to unsafe situations.
Q: “My teen is terrified of driving, in large part because of his ADHD. He worries that his symptoms will make him a bad driver. I think driving will push him towards greater independence. How can I help my child overcome driving anxiety and safely gain confidence behind the wheel?”
While research indicates that ADHD is associated with driving risks, it doesn’t mean every single individual with ADHD is doomed to experience problems behind the wheel. With that in mind, the first issue here may be how your teen perceives his ADHD.
Your child should understand the realities and challenges of living with the condition, but not to the point where he becomes overwhelmed and develops a doom-and-gloom, defeatist perspective on life. The best way to curb these limiting beliefs is to talk to your child about his ADHD from a strengths-based approach. Over time, he’ll develop a strong sense of self and confidence in his ability to adapt to the inevitable challenges of living with ADHD.
[Read: “‘Your Brain Is Amazing!’ 5 Things All Neurodivergent Teens Need to Hear”]
He should also know that there are risk factors outside of ADHD that impact driving, and researchers (like myself) are studying ways to make driving safer for teens like him. We know, for example, that being actively medicated drastically improves driving performance in individuals with ADHD.1 We’ve also successfully trained teens with ADHD to reduce time spent looking away from the road and, in doing so, saw a huge drop in the number of crashes/near-crashes for this group.2 Other tools, like driving contracts and tracking apps, can also encourage safe driving. In all, there’s a lot more in your teen’s control to promote safe driving than he probably thinks.
Finally, avoidance only builds and maintains fear and anxiety. I encourage your teen to practice driving in safe conditions for as long as it takes for him to feel comfortable. If it’s challenging for you to remain supportive and calm in the passenger seat, have your child work with a professional driving instructor instead.
Driving Anxiety and ADHD: Next Steps
- Free Download: Driving Contract Template for Teen Drivers with ADHD
- Read: Is Your Teen Ready to Drive? How to Tell
- Read: How to Steer Your Teen Toward Safe Driving
The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude ADHD Experts webinar titled, “Teen Driving Rules: ADHD Guardrails to Avoid Distractions and Accidents” [Video Replay & Podcast #455] with Annie Artiga Garner, Ph.D., which was broadcast on May 18, 2023.
SUPPORT ADDITUDE
Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.
1 Garner, A. A. (2020). Driving in adolescents with ADHD and the road to intervention. In S. P. Becker (Ed.), ADHD in adolescents: Development, assessment, and treatment (pp. 255–277). The Guilford Press.
2 Epstein, J. N., Garner, A. A., Kiefer, A. W., Peugh, J., Tamm, L., MacPherson, R. P., Simon, J. O., & Fisher, D. L. (2022). Trial of Training to Reduce Driver Inattention in Teens with ADHD. The New England journal of medicine, 387(22), 2056–2066. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2204783
