Influence of gender on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children referred to a psychiatric clinic.

By Joseph Biederman, E. Mick, Stephen V. Faraone, E. Braaten, A. Doyle, T. Spencer, T. Wilens, Elizabeth Frazier, M. Johnson. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2002

898 citations recorded by the source corpus.

OBJECTIVE The substantial discrepancy in the male-to-female ratio between clinic-referred (10 to 1) and community (3 to 1) samples of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggests that gender differences may be operant in the phenotypic expression of ADHD. In this study the authors systematically examined the impact of gender on the clinical features of ADHD in a group of children referred to a clinic. METHOD The study included 140 boys and 140 girls with ADHD and 120 boys and 122 girls without ADHD as comparison subjects. All subjects were systematically assessed with structured diagnostic interviews and neuropsychological batteries for subtypes of ADHD as well as emotional, school, intellectual, interpersonal, and family functioning. RESULTS Girls with ADHD were more likely than boys to have the predominantly inattentive type of ADHD, less likely to have a learning disability, and less likely to manifest problems in school or in their spare time. In addition, girls with ADHD were at less risk for comorbid major depression, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder than boys with ADHD. A statistically significant gender-by-ADHD interaction was identified for comorbid substance use disorders as well. CONCLUSIONS The lower likelihood for girls to manifest psychiatric, cognitive, and functional impairment than boys could result in gender-based referral bias unfavorable to girls with ADHD.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Mental health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/86ff8021c3584c9ef5ac0f50c84f1181d4ad7ebb

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Citations in the corpus

Effects of Child Gender and Symptom Type on Referrals for ADHD by Elementary School Teachers (2004, background): “Some researchers have proposed that this discrepancy is a reflection of boys typically exhibiting more disruptive behaviors than girls (Arcia & Conners, 1998; Biederman et al., 2002; Gaub & Carlson, 1997).”
A dynamic developmental theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) predominantly hyperactive/impulsive and combined subtypes. (2005, background): “…the focus of attention in the search for the neurobiological basis of ADHD because of the assumed dopamine agonistic action of the stimulant drugs (Biederman et al. 2002a; Castellanos 1997; Castellanos et al. 2002; Johansen et al. 2002; Rosenkranz & Grace 2002; Volkow et al. 1998) that for…”
Why Are Autism Spectrum Conditions More Prevalent in Males? (2011, background): “The ratio of males to females with ADHD is high in clinic samples (up to 10:1) [106,107].”
Sex differences in theory of mind: A male advantage on Happé's “cartoon” task (2007, background): “…deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder are also far more common in males and there are several reports of social cognitive deficits in these conditions (Blair, Jones, Clark, & Smith, 1997; Hughes, Dunn, & White, 1998; Biederman et al., 2002; cf. Richell et al., 2003; Widom, 1976).”
European consensus statement on diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD: The European Network Adult ADHD (2010, background): “As boys dominate clinical samples of ADHD in childhood, female manifestations and gender differences have been relatively neglected in research as well as clinical practice [159-162].”
ADHD symptoms and peer relations of children in a community sample: Examining associated problems, self-perceptions, and gender differences (2005, background): “Girls with ADHD have been found to be less affected in terms of symptom severity and psychiatric comorbidity (Biederman et al., 2002; Correspondence should be sent to to Sofia Diamantopoulou, Uppsala University, Department of Psychology, PO Box 1225, SE-751 42 Uppsala, Sweden; e-mail:…”