Sex Differences in ADHD Symptom Severity
Publication Date
10-4-2014
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
ADHD, Gender difference, Neuropsychology, Cognitive development, Mediation
Abstract
Background
Males show higher rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than do females. Potential explanations include genuine etiological differences or artifact.
Methods
2,332 twin and sibling youth participated in behavioral and cognitive testing. Partially competing models of symptom severity distribution differences, the mean difference, and variance difference models, were tested within a randomly selected subsample. The Delta method was used to test for mediation of sex differences in ADHD symptom severity by processing speed, inhibition and working memory.
Results
The combined mean difference and variance difference models fully explained the sex difference in ADHD symptom severity. Cognitive endophenotypes mediated 14% of the sex difference effect.
Conclusions
The sex difference in ADHD symptom severity is valid and may be due to differing genetic and cognitive liabilities between the sexes.
Copyright Date
10-4-2014
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Rights Holder
Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Provenance
Received from author
Language
English (eng)
Extent
8 pgs
Publication Statement
Copyright held by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Publication Title
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Volume
56
Issue
6
First Page
632
Last Page
639
ISSN
1469-7610
Recommended Citation
Arnett, A. B., Pennington, B. F., Willcutt, E. G., DeFries, J. C., & Olson, R. K. (2015). Sex differences in ADHD symptom severity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(6), 632-639. DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12337