<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Purpose</h3><p>Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioural condition. This article introduces a new data science method, word association thematic analysis, to investigate whether ADHD tweets can give insights into patient concerns and online communication needs.</p></sec><sec><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>Tweets matching “my ADHD” (n=58,893) and 99 other conditions (n=1,341,442) were gathered and two thematic analyses conducted. Analysis 1: A standard thematic analysis of ADHD-related tweets. Analysis 2: A word association thematic analysis of themes unique to ADHD.</p></sec><sec><h3>Findings</h3><p>The themes that emerged from the two analyses included people ascribing their brains agency to explain and justify their symptoms and using the concept of neurodivergence for a positive self-image.</p></sec><sec><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>This is a single case study and the results may differ for other topics.</p></sec><sec><h3>Practical implications</h3><p>Health professionals should be sensitive to patients’ needs to understand their behaviour, find ways to justify and explain it to others and to be positive about their condition.</p></sec><sec><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>Word association thematic analysis can give new insights into the (self-reported) patient perspective.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioural condition. This article introduces a new data science method, word association thematic analysis, to investigate whether ADHD tweets can give insights into patient concerns and online communication needs.Design/methodology/approachTweets matching “my ADHD” (n=58,893) and 99 other conditions (n=1,341,442) were gathered and two thematic analyses conducted. Analysis 1: A standard thematic analysis of ADHD-related tweets. Analysis 2: A word association thematic analysis of themes unique to ADHD.FindingsThe themes that emerged from the two analyses included people ascribing their brains agency to explain and justify their symptoms and using the concept of neurodivergence for a positive self-image.Research limitationsThis is a single case study and the results may differ for other topics.Practical implicationsHealth professionals should be sensitive to patients’ needs to understand their behaviour, find ways to justify and explain it to others and to be positive about their condition.Originality/valueWord association thematic analysis can give new insights into the (self-reported) patient perspective.

“My ADHD Hellbrain”: A Twitter Data Science Perspective on a Behavioural Disorder

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

PurposeAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioural condition. This article introduces a new data science method, word association...

“My ADHD Hellbrain”: A Twitter Data Science Perspective on a Behavioural Disorder

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Dec 08, 2020

Page range: 13 - 34

Received: Aug 20, 2020

Accepted: Oct 23, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0007

Keywords
ADHD, Word association thematic analysis, Social behaviour, Social web, Twitter

© 2021 Mike Thelwall et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

“My ADHD Hellbrain”: A Twitter Data Science Perspective on a Behavioural Disorder

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Dec 08, 2020

Page range: 13 - 34

Received: Aug 20, 2020

Accepted: Oct 23, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0007

KeywordsADHD, Word association thematic analysis, Social behaviour, Social web, Twitter

© 2021 Mike Thelwall et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Keywords
ADHD, Word association thematic analysis, Social behaviour, Social web, Twitter