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. 2015 Jun;56(6):632-9.
doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12337. Epub 2014 Oct 4.

Sex differences in ADHD symptom severity

Anne B Arnett  1 , Bruce F Pennington  1 , Erik G Willcutt  2 , John C DeFries  3 , Richard K Olson  3
Affiliations

Sex differences in ADHD symptom severity

Anne B Arnett et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2015 Jun.

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.

Keywords: ADHD; cognitive development; gender difference; mediation; neuropsychology.

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References

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