OPEN ACCESS
PEER-REVIEWED
Original Study
| Published: September 17, 2023
Gender Differences in ADHD: A Cross-sectional Hospital based Study
PhD Scholar/Licensed Clinical Psychologist Google Scholar More about the auther
Lecturer and Licensed Clinical Psychologist Google Scholar More about the auther
DIP: 18.01.337.20231103
DOI: 10.25215/1103.337
ABSTRACT
Background: Previous literature on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows gender differences in the manifestation of its symptoms and the diagnosis is more prevalent in boys compared to girls, who continue to remain underdiagnosed. The aim of this study was to assess gender differences in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder subtypes, psychiatric co-morbidities, behavioural problems and gender differentiated parenting styles in a hospital-referred sample of children diagnosed with ADHD. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used; twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls with ADHD between 6–17 years, were included in the study (n=40). Sample was collected by purposive sampling method. The assessments included socio-demographic details, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder test (ADHDT), parenting style questionnaire (PSQ), mini-international neuropsychiatric interview for children and adolescents (MINI KID), and the child behavior checklist (CBCL). Potential subjects were excluded if their parents were not available for the study, or if they were adopted. Subjects were also excluded if they had any sensorimotor handicaps (paralysis, deafness) or a history of sub-normal intelligence. Results: The analysis indicated similarities in a hospital-referred population, ADHD boys and girls did not differ on ADHD subtypes. No significant gender differences for psychiatric comorbidities were found. Girls presented with separation anxiety disorder. Gender differentiated parenting of boys and girls with ADHD were minimal. Only specific aspects of parenting were related to behavioural problems among children with ADHD. Conclusion: We did not find gender-specific symptoms in children with ADHD in a hospital referred sample. The study implicates the need to include an extensive community-based population, examining whether these similarities in symptoms among boys and girls are a result of referral bias.
Keywords
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Gender differences, Parenting style, Psychiatric co-morbidities
This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2023, Ali, F. & Niyaz, A.
Received: May 21, 2023; Revision Received: September 13, 2023; Accepted: September 17, 2023
Article Overview
ISSN 2348-5396
ISSN 2349-3429
18.01.337.20231103
10.25215/1103.337
Download: 11
View: 427
Published in Volume 11, Issue 3, July-September, 2023