A research internship has produced a significant new report advancing Māori-led research on adult ADHD.
Supported by a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga New Horizons Summer Internship, the project was supervised by Associate Professor Byron Rangiwai through Ngā Wai a Te Tūī (Māori and Indigenous Research Centre).
The internship was undertaken by Aria McKee (Ngāti Porou), a master’s student at Victoria University of Wellington.
Over the summer, McKee remained in Te Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) while continuing her studies from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), working closely with Assoc. Prof. Rangiwai through weekly online hui, written feedback, and ongoing research discussions.
The resulting report, Ngā Mata Rua ā Māui—The Two Faces of Māui: The Beginnings of a Māui-based ADHD Psychoeducation Framework, forms the first stage of a broader research programme examining adult ADHD through Māori narrative analysis alongside contemporary clinical evidence.
Adult ADHD remains significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated in New Zealand, with treatment rates well below expected prevalence levels. Māori adults are also under-represented in access to diagnosis and medication, while Māori-focused research on adult outcomes across education, employment, and health remains limited.
McKee’s 10-week project addressed this gap by integrating three strands of research: a synthesis of international ADHD clinical literature, analysis of inequities in adult assessment and treatment pathways in Aotearoa, and narrative analysis grounded in Māori knowledge systems.
The work culminated in a conceptual framework titled Ngā Mata Rua ā Māui, which interprets ADHD traits as having dual expressions. Drawing on narratives of Māui‑tikitiki‑a‑Taranga, the framework identifies two relational dimensions.
Te Mata Pūmanawa describes strengths such as creativity, curiosity, initiative, adaptive thinking, and the ability to sustain focus in enabling environments. Te Mata Manawaroa reflects more challenging experiences, including impulsivity, emotional intensity, exhaustion, and strained relationships.
Designed as a psychoeducation and reflection tool, the framework aims to support self-understanding and more collaborative engagement with clinicians. While still in its early stages, further refinement, community engagement, and empirical testing are planned before broader application. The report will also be developed into a peer-reviewed journal article.
Beyond health research, the framework may have wider implications across education, workplaces, and whānau contexts. It offers language that can reduce stigma around ADHD, strengthen family conversations, and inform more responsive learning environments and workplace practices. The research also highlights the need for publicly funded adult ADHD assessment and treatment in Aotearoa.
For McKee, the project was both academic and deeply personal. Raised in Te Matau-a-Māui with whakapapa to Te Tairāwhiti and Reporua as her tūrangawaewae, she brings lived experience of ADHD to her research.
“I am very grateful to have been working on this project,” Aria says. “As a Māori with lived experience with ADHD, I genuinely believe this model can change the stigma surrounding Aroreretini ‘ADHD’; utilising traditional knowledge systems to understand, conceptualise, and appreciate traits.”
Assoc. Prof. Rangiwai says the research lays important groundwork.
“The framework Aria has developed is the basis for a transformative tūpuna-based psychoeducation framework that supports Māori with ADHD to better understand and accept themselves,” Byron says.
The internship highlights the impact of targeted summer research support and sustained supervision. Spanning Te Tairāwhiti, Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Unitec, the project reflects growing momentum in distributed Māori research leadership and our commitment to scholarship that addresses national inequities.