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Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa

Adults who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) are an under-represented group in ADHD literature and little is known about their lived experiences. This study aimed to explore how AFAB university students with ADHD experience interpersonal relationships. Using an interpretive phenomenological frame...

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Main Author: Malefane, Reitumetse
Other Authors: Spedding, Maxine
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: Department of Psychology 2025
Subjects:
interpersonal relationships
ADHD
AFAB
Interpretive phenomenology
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access_status_str Open Access
author Malefane, Reitumetse
author2 Spedding, Maxine
author_browse Malefane, Reitumetse
Spedding, Maxine
author_facet Spedding, Maxine
Malefane, Reitumetse
author_sort Malefane, Reitumetse
collection Thesis
description Adults who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) are an under-represented group in ADHD literature and little is known about their lived experiences. This study aimed to explore how AFAB university students with ADHD experience interpersonal relationships. Using an interpretive phenomenological framework, 12 AFAB students from a South African university were recruited to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to synthesise the data and generate a narrative account of the following two overarching themes, ‘compromised connection and vulnerability' and ‘strategising to find connection'. The findings depicted that the participants' interpersonal experiences were marked by frequent invalidation, judgement, and misunderstanding from those in their life. These factors were described as barriers to experiencing close and fulfilling interpersonal relationships. However, the participants also described several strategies that they believed buffered their negative social experiences. Whilst these strategies were shown to limit conflict and alienation, several of them were also demonstrated to be exhausting and detrimental to the participants' overall wellbeing. As such, this study highlighted the importance of mutually accommodating and supportive interpersonal relationships for AFAB adults with ADHD.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41693
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language English
eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:17.361Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Department of Psychology
publisherStr Department of Psychology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41693 Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa Malefane, Reitumetse Spedding, Maxine interpersonal relationships ADHD AFAB Interpretive phenomenology Adults who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) are an under-represented group in ADHD literature and little is known about their lived experiences. This study aimed to explore how AFAB university students with ADHD experience interpersonal relationships. Using an interpretive phenomenological framework, 12 AFAB students from a South African university were recruited to participate in individual semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to synthesise the data and generate a narrative account of the following two overarching themes, ‘compromised connection and vulnerability' and ‘strategising to find connection'. The findings depicted that the participants' interpersonal experiences were marked by frequent invalidation, judgement, and misunderstanding from those in their life. These factors were described as barriers to experiencing close and fulfilling interpersonal relationships. However, the participants also described several strategies that they believed buffered their negative social experiences. Whilst these strategies were shown to limit conflict and alienation, several of them were also demonstrated to be exhausting and detrimental to the participants' overall wellbeing. As such, this study highlighted the importance of mutually accommodating and supportive interpersonal relationships for AFAB adults with ADHD. 2025-09-04T11:19:17Z 2025-09-04T11:19:17Z 2025 2025-09-04T11:15:07Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41693 en eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle interpersonal relationships
ADHD
AFAB
Interpretive phenomenology
Malefane, Reitumetse
Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
title_full Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
title_fullStr Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
title_short Barriers to being seen: the interpersonal experiences of AFAB University students with ADHD in South Africa
title_sort barriers to being seen the interpersonal experiences of afab university students with adhd in south africa
topic interpersonal relationships
ADHD
AFAB
Interpretive phenomenology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41693
work_keys_str_mv AT malefanereitumetse barrierstobeingseentheinterpersonalexperiencesofafabuniversitystudentswithadhdinsouthafrica

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