Trauma exposure and dissociative experiences can resemble attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in adolescence, but it is unclear whether dissociation explains trauma-related attentional symptoms by diagnostic status.

We enrolled 108 youth aged 12-18 years (54 with ADHD; 54 controls) from a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient service in Türkiye. Youth completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES); parents completed the Conners Parent Rating Scale-Revised Short Form (CPRS-RS). We estimated a multigroup path model (ADHD vs control) testing CTQ→A-DES (path a), A-DES→CPRS-RS (path b), and CTQ→CPRS-RS (path c′), with 1000-draw bootstrap confidence intervals, adjusting for sex, internalizing symptoms, socioeconomic status, and number of children in the household. Indirect effects were interpreted as associational.

In controls, higher trauma was associated with higher dissociative experiences (a=0.529, p=0.005), and higher dissociative experiences were associated with ADHD-like symptoms (b=0.292, p<0.001). The indirect effect was significant (a × b=0.155, 95% CI 0.035-0.306; p=0.019). In the ADHD group, path a (0.163, p=0.153), path b (0.107, p=0.230), and the indirect effect (0.017, 95% CI -0.022 to 0.061; p=0.380) were not significant. Indirect effects differed between groups (Wald χ²(1)=4.54, p=0.033).

Dissociative experiences were associated with trauma-related ADHD-like symptoms in adolescents without ADHD, but this pathway was not statistically supported in diagnosed ADHD, supporting trauma-informed assessment when attentional complaints arise without confirmed ADHD.