Although originally considered to be a disorder of childhood, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly being diagnosed for the first time in adulthood. Yet we know little about the social characteristics (race, gender, and social class) of those first labeled in adulthood, how these differ from those first labeled in childhood/adolescence, and whether the ADHD label is applied proportionately across social groups given ADHD symptomology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the current research considers how typifications of ADHD affect application of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence and in adulthood. Results indicate that even after controlling for ADHD symptoms, social characteristics are important predictors of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence but are less influential in predicting ADHD labeling in adulthood. Additionally, results indicate the importance of race in moderating the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and application of the ADHD label throughout the life course.
AbrahamJohn. 2010. “Pharmaceuticalization of Society in Context: Theoretical, Empirical and Health Dimensions.”Sociology44:603-22.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed.Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed.Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
4.
BarkleyRussell A.2006. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment. New York: Guilford.
5.
BothaMoniqueFrostDavid M. 2020. “Extending the Minority Stress Model to Understand Mental Health Problems Experienced by the Autistic Population.”Society and Mental Health10:20-34.
6.
BoyleColeen A.BouletShereeSchieveLaura A.CohenRobin A.BlumbergStephen J.Yeargin-AllsoppMarshalynVisserSusannaKoganMichael D. 2011. “Trends in the Prevalence of Developmental Disabilities in US Children, 1997-2008.”Pediatrics127:1034-42.
7.
BrownPhil. 1995. “Naming and Framing: The Social Construction of Diagnosis and Illness.”Journal of Health and Social BehaviorExtra Issue: Forty Years of Medical Sociology: The State of the Art and Directions for the Future:34-52.
8.
BussingReginaZimaBonnie T.GaryFaye A.GarvanCynthia Wilson. 2003. “Barriers to Detection, Help-Seeking, and Service Use for Children with ADHD Symptoms.”Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research30:176-89.
9.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2010. “Increasing Prevalence of Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder among Children.”Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report59:1439-43.
ChiricosTedEschholzSarah. 2002. “The Racial and Ethnic Typification of Crime and the Criminal Typification of Race and Ethnicity in Local Television News.”Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency39:400-20.
12.
ChiricosTedWelchKellyGertzMarc. 2004. “Racial Typification of Crime and Support for Punitive Measures.”Criminology42:359-89.
13.
ConradPeter. 2005. “The Shifting Engines of Medicalization.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior46:3-14.
14.
ConradPeter. 2007. The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
15.
ConradPeter. [1976]2016. Identifying Hyperactive Children: The Medicalization of Deviant Behavior. Reprint. New York: Routledge.
16.
ConradPeterPotterDeborah. 2000. "From Hyperactive Children to ADHD Adults: Observations of the Expansion of Medical Categories.”Social Problems, 47:559-82.
17.
CrosnoeRobertRiegle-CrumbCatherineMullerChandra. 2007. “Gender, Self-Perception, and Academic Problems in High School.”Social Problems54:118-38.
18.
DarensbourgAliciaPerezEricaBlakeJamilia J. 2010. “Overrepresentation of African American Males in Exclusionary Discipline: The Role of School-Based Mental Health Professionals in Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline.”Journal of African American Males in Education1:196-211.
19.
EvansWilliam N.MorrillMelinda S.ParenteStephen T. 2010. “Measuring Inappropriate Medical Diagnosis and Treatment in Survey Data: The Case of ADHD among School-Age Children.”Journal of Health Economics29:657-73.
20.
FarkasGeorgeMorganPaul L. 2018. “Risk and Race in Measuring Special Education Need.”Contexts17:72-74.
21.
FergusonAnn. 2001. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
22.
FletcherJasonWolfeBarbara. 2009. “Long-Term Consequences of Childhood ADHD on Criminal Activities.”Journal of Mental Health Policy Economics12:119-38.
23.
FroehlichT. E.LanphearB. P.EpsteinJ. N.BarbaresiW. J.KatusicS. K.KahnR. S. 2007. “Prevalence, Recognition, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a National Sample of US Children.”Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine161:857-64.
24.
FurstenbergFrankJr.KennedySheelaMcLoydVonnieRumbautRubenSetterstenRichardJr.2004. “Growing up Is Harder to Do.”Contexts3:33-41.
25.
GershonJonathon. 2002. “A Meta-Analytic Review of Gender Differences in ADHD.”Journal of Attention Disorders5:143-54.
26.
HarrisAnthony R.1977. “Sex and Theories of Deviance: Toward a Functional Theory of Deviant Type-Scripts.”American Sociological Review42:3-16.
27.
HarrisKathleen M.2013. The Add Health Study: Design and Accomplishments. Chapel Hill, NC: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina.
28.
HinshawStephen P.SchefflerRichard M. 2014. The ADHD Explosion: Myths, Medication, Money, and Today’s Push for Performance. New York: Oxford University Press.
29.
IrwinKatherineDavidsonJanetHall-SanchezAmanda. 2012. “The Race to Punish in American Schools: Class and Race Predictors of Punitive School-Crime Control.”Critical Criminology21:47-71.
30.
JutelAnnemarie. 2009. “Sociology of Diagnosis: A Preliminary Review.”Sociology of Health & Illness31:278-99.
31.
KesslerRonald C.AdlerLenardBarkleyRussellBiedermanJosephConnersC. KeithDemlerOlgaFaraoneStephen V.GreenhillLaurence L.HowesMary J. 2006. “The Prevalence and Correlates of Adult ADHD in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.”American Journal of Psychiatry163:716-23.
32.
KingMarissa D.JenningsJenniferFletcherJason M. 2014. “Medical Adaptation to Academic Pressure: Schooling, Stimulant Use, and Socioeconomic Status.”American Sociological Review79:1039-66.
33.
KleinRachel G.MannuzzaSalvatoreRamos OlazagastiMaria A.BelskyErica RoizenHutchisonJesse A.Lashua-ShriftmanErinCastellanosF. Xavier. 2012. “Clinical and Functional Outcome of Childhood ADHD 33 Years Later.”Archives of General Psychiatry69:1295-303.
34.
KutchinsHerbKirkStuart A. 1997. Making Us Crazy. DSM: The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders. New York: The Free Press.
35.
LangeKlaus W.ReichlSusanneLangeKatharina M.TuchaLaraTuchaOliver. 2010. “The History of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.”Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders2:241-55.
36.
LinkBruce G.PhelanJo C. 2012. “Labeling and Stigma.” Pp. 525-41 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. 2nd ed., edited by AneshenselC. S.BiermanA.PhelanJ. C. New York: Springer.
37.
MaynardDouglas W.TurowetzJason. 2017. “Doing Diagnosis: Autism, Interaction Order, and the Use of Narrative in Clinical Talk.”Social Psychology Quarterly80:254-75.
38.
McKinneyJohn C.1969. “Typification, Typologies, and Sociological Theory.”Social Forces48:1-12.
39.
McMahonSamantha Elizabeth. 2010. “Doctors Diagnose, Teachers Label: The Unexpected in Pre-service Teachers’ Talk about Labelling Children with ADHD.”International Journal of Inclusive Education16:249-64.
40.
MiechRichardEssenMarilyn J.GoldsmithH. Hill. 2001. “Socioeconomic Status and the Adjustment to School: The Role of Self-Regulation during Early Childhood.”Sociology of Education74:102-20.
41.
MoodCarina. 2010. “Logistic Regression: Why We Cannot Do What We Think We Can Do, and What We Can Do about It.”European Sociological Review26:67-82.
42.
MoodyMyles. 2016. “From Under-Diagnoses to Over-Representation: Black Children, ADHD, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.”Journal of African American Studies20:152-63.
43.
MorganPaulStaffJeremyHillemeierMarianne M.FarkasGeorgeMaczugaSteven. 2013. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in ADHD Diagnosis from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade.”Pediatrics132:85-93.
44.
MorganPaul L.HillemeierMarianne M.FarkasGeorgeMaczugaSteve. 2014. “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in ADHD Diagnosis by Kindergarten Entry.”The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry55:905-13.
45.
MorrisEdward W.2005. “‘Tuck in That Shirt!’ Race, Class, Gender, and Discipline in an Urban School.”Sociological Perspectives48:25-48.
46.
MurphyPatriciaSchacharRussell. 2000. “Use of Self-Ratings in the Assessment of Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults.”American Journal of Psychiatry157:1156-59.
47.
MustoMichela. 2019. “Brilliant or Bad: The Gendered Social Construction of Exceptionalism in Early Adolescence.”American Sociological Review84:369-93.
48.
OehrleinElisabeth M.BurcuMehmetSaferDaniel J.ZitoJulie Magno. 2016. “National Trends in ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment: Comparison of Youth and Adult Office-Based Visits.”Psychiatric Services67:964-69.
49.
OhanJeneva L.VisserTroy A. W. 2009. “Why Is There a Gender Gap in Children Presenting for Attention/Hyperactivity Disorder Services?”Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology38:650-60.
50.
OjedaVictoria D.BergstresserSara M. 2008. “Gender, Race-Ethnicity, and Psychosocial Barriers to Mental Health Care: An Examination of Perceptions and Attitudes among Adults Reporting Unmet Need.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior49:317-34.
51.
OstranderRickHermanKeith C. 2006. “Potential Cognitive, Parenting, and Developmental Mediators of the Relationship between ADHD and Depression.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology74:89-98.
52.
PegueroAnthony A.PoppAnn MarieShekarkharZahra. 2015. “Breaking Stereotypes and School Punishment: Family Socioeconomic Status, Test Scores, Academic and Sport Activities, Backlash, and Racial and Ethnic Discipline Disparities.”Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice13:59-85.
53.
PelhamWilliam E.FosterE. MichaelRobbJessica A. 2007. “The Economic Impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents.”Journal of Pediatric Psychology6:711-27.
54.
PescosolidoBernice A.BoyerCarol A.MedinaTait R. 2012. “The Social Dynamics of Responding to Mental Health Problems.” Pp. 505-24 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. 2nd ed., edited by AneshenselC. S.BiermanA.PhelanJ. C. New York: Springer.
55.
PotterDaniel. 2013. “The Social Process Behind Inequalities in Children’s Mental Health: Incorporating an Illness Career Framework.”Sociology Compass 7/9:775-85.
56.
ProsserBrenton. 2014. “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Australia: Perspectives from the Sociology of Deviance.”Journal of Sociology51:596-612.
57.
RiosVictor M.2011. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. New York: NYU Press.
58.
SaxLeonardKautzKathleen. 2003“Who First Suggests the Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?”Annals of Family Medicine1:171-74.
59.
SchmierJordana K.HalpernMichael T. 2004. “Patient Recall and Recall Bias of Health Status.”Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research4:159-63.
60.
SchnittkerJason. 2017. The Diagnostic System: Why the Classification of Psychiatric Disorder Is Necessary, Difficult, and Never Settled. New York: Columbia University Press.
61.
SchutzAlfred. 1970. On Phenomenology and Social Relations: Selected Writings, edited by WagnerH. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
62.
ShifrerDara. 2013. “Stigma of a Label: Educational Expectations for High School Students Labeled with a Learning Disability.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior54:462-80.
63.
ShifrerDaraMullerChandraCallahanRebecca. 2011. “Disproportionality and Learning Disabilities: Parsing Apart Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Language.”Journal of Learning Disabilities44:246-57.
64.
SimoniZachary R.2016. “Do Social Skills Mediate the Relationship between ADHD and Depression?”Sociological Spectrum36:109-22.
65.
SimoniZachary R.DrenteaPatricia. 2016. “ADHD, Socioeconomic Status, Medication Use and Academic Ethic.”Sociological Focus49:119-32.
66.
SkogliErik WintherTeicherMartin H.AndersenPer NormannHovikKjell ToreOieMerete. 2013. “ADHD in Girls and Boys—Gender Differences in Co-existing Symptoms and Executive Function Measures.”BMC Psychiatry13:1-26.
67.
SpencerBettinaCastanoEmanuele. 2007. “Social Class Is Dead. Long Live Social Class! Stereotype Threat among Low Socioeconomic Status Individuals.”Social Justice Research20:418-32.
68.
SteenSaraEngenRodney L.GaineyRandy R. 2005. “Images of Danger and Culpability: Racial Stereotyping, Case Processing, and Criminal Sentencing.”Criminology43:435-68.
69.
StreeterJessica. 2014. “Black–White Differences in Formal ADHD Diagnoses: Unmet Need, or Conscious Decision-Making Process?” Pp. 307-34 in Family Relationships and Familial Responses to Health Issues (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research). Vol. 8A, edited by HigginsJ. H.BlairS. L. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
70.
TakayanagiY.SpiraA. P.RothK. B.GalloJ. J.EatonW. W.MojtabaiR. 2014. “Accuracy of Reports of Lifetime Mental and Physical Disorders: Results from the Baltimore Epidemiological Catchment Area Study.”JAMA Psychiatry71:273-80.
71.
ThompsonMelissa. 2010. “Race, Gender, and the Social Construction of Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System.”Sociological Perspectives53:99-125.
72.
TimimiSamiTaylorEric. 2004. “ADHD Is Best Understood as a Cultural Construct.”British Journal of Psychiatry184:8-9.
73.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2018. K-12 Education: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities (GAO-18-258). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
74.
VillatoroAlice P.MaysVickie M.PonceNinez A.AneshenselCarol S. 2018. “Perceived Need for Mental Health Care: The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status.”Society and Mental Health8:1-24.
75.
VisserSusanna N.DanielsonMelissa L.BitskoRebecca H.HolbrookJoseph R.KoganMichael D.GhandourReem M.PerouRuthBlumbergStephen J. 2014. “Trends in the Parent-Report of Health Care Provider-Diagnosed and Medicated Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: United States, 2003-2011.”Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry53:34-46.
76.
WilliamsRichard. 2012. “Using the Margins Command to Estimate and Interpret Adjusted Predictions and Marginal Effects.”The Stata Journal12:308-31.
WrightEric R.PerryBrea L. 2010. “Medical Sociology and Health Services Research: Past Accomplishments and Future Policy Challenges.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior51(Issue 1, suppl):S107-19.
79.
YoungSusanBramhamJessicaGrayKatieRoseEsther. 2008. “The Experience of Receiving a Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Adulthood.”Journal of Attention Disorders11:493-503.
80.
ZhuYanminLiuWeiLiYanWangXiWintersteinAlmut G. 2018. “Prevalence of ADHD in Publicly Insured Adults.”Journal of Attention Disorders22:182-90.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
