Less disruptive behavior in females with ADHD may contribute to referral bias causing underidentification and lack of treatment for females with ADHD. Further, females with ADHD present more commonly with the inattentive subtype than do boys. Females with ADHD are reported to have fewer hyperactive/impulsive symptoms and more inattentive symptoms when compared with males with ADHD. Research on gender differences suggests that girls may be consistently underidentified and underdiagnosed mostly explained by differences in the expression of the disorder among boys and girls. Worldwide prevalence estimates for childhood ADHD range between 3% and 7% with a male-to-female ratio of 3:1 in population based studies and between 5:1 to 9:1 in clinical samples. Self-report scales may increase awareness of internalizing problems particularly salient in females with ADHD.Īttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neuropsychiatric disorders, characterized by problems with inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Our findings emphasize the combination of self-report and parent rating scales for the identification of different comorbid symptom expression in boys and girls already diagnosed with ADHD. Neuropsychological EF tests had only a modest ability to categorize subjects as ADHD or HC in males (73% accuracy) and females (79% accuracy). Parent ratings of EF skills were better in distinguishing subjects with ADHD from HC in males (96% accuracy) than in females (92% accuracy). The most important distinguishing variable was self-reported anxiety in females, and parent ratings of rule breaking in males. Random forest classification indicated that co-existing symptom ratings was substantially better in distinguishing subjects with ADHD from HC in females (93% accuracy) than in males (86% accuracy). ResultsĪNOVAs revealed only one significant diagnosis x gender interaction, with higher rates of self-reported anxiety symptoms in females with ADHD. The three measurement domains (co-existing symptoms, BRIEF, neuropsychological EF tests) were investigated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and random forest classification. EF was assessed with parent ratings of executive skills in everyday situations (BRIEF), and neuropsychological tests. Co-existing symptoms were assessed with self-report scales and parent ratings. Thirty-seven females with ADHD, 43 males with ADHD, 18 HC females and 32 HC males between 8 and 17 years were included. The second aim was to delineate specific symptom ratings and measures of EF that were most important in distinguishing ADHD from healthy controls (HC) of the same gender. One aim of the present study was to assess in a clinical sample of medication naïve boys and girls with ADHD, whether there were significant gender x diagnosis interactions in co-existing symptom severity and executive function (EF) impairment. Research on gender differences suggests that girls may be consistently underidentified and underdiagnosed because of differences in the expression of the disorder among boys and girls. ADHD is diagnosed and treated more often in males than in females.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |