Mental Well-Being Among Emerging Adults With and Without SLD/ADHD During War

Emerging adulthood is marked by increasing independence and responsibility across educational, occupational, and social domains. During wartime, disruptions to daily routines, security, and perceived control may threaten mental well-being, understood as positive emotional, social, and psychological functioning. These challenges may be particularly salient for individuals with specific learning disabilities (SLD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who may experience difficulties in executive functioning and maintaining everyday routines. This study examined differences in mental well-being between emerging adults with and without SLD and/or ADHD and assessed the contributions of executive functioning, health-promoting daily activities, psychological capital, and perceived social support during wartime. Participants were 317 Israeli emerging adults aged 18–28 years. Among the 316 participants with valid diagnostic-group classification, 115 reported SLD and/or ADHD and 201 reported neither condition. Emerging adults with SLD and/or ADHD reported lower mental well-being, greater executive functioning difficulties, and lower engagement in health-promoting daily activities than those without SLD and/or ADHD. Mental well-being was positively associated with psychological capital, health-promoting daily activities, and perceived social support, and negatively associated with executive functioning difficulties. In the hierarchical regression, diagnostic-group status was initially associated with mental well-being but was no longer significant after psychological capital, health-promoting daily activities and executive functioning were entered; perceived social support made a small additional contribution. The final model explained 37.2% of the variance in mental well-being. These findings highlight the relevance of cognitive-functional, psychological, occupational, and social factors to mental well-being during a prolonged national crisis.