Females With ADHD Report More Severe Symptoms Than Males on the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale

Victoria U Vildalen; Erlend J Brevik; Jan Haavik; Astri J Lundervold

doi:10.1177/1087054716659362

Females With ADHD Report More Severe Symptoms Than Males on the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale

J Atten Disord. 2019 Jul;23(9):959-967. doi: 10.1177/1087054716659362. Epub 2016 Jul 25.

Authors

Victoria U Vildalen¹, Erlend J Brevik^{1

2

3}, Jan Haavik^{2

3

4}, Astri J Lundervold^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ 1 Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway.
² 2 Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
³ 3 K. G. Jebsen Centre for Research on Neuropsychiatric Disorders, University of Bergen, Norway.
⁴ 4 Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Norway.

PMID: 27461728
DOI: 10.1177/1087054716659362

Abstract

Objective: To investigate gender differences in self-reported ADHD symptoms in a group of adults with ADHD and a control group.

Methods: A total of 682 adults with ADHD (49.9% females) and 882 controls (59.2% females) completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), listing the 18 symptoms included in the diagnostic criteria of ADHD.

Results: Within the ADHD group, females reported more severe symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity than males. This higher symptom report of females was not found in the control group, where the number of severe inattention symptoms rather was higher in males.

Conclusion: The results suggest that childhood symptoms of ADHD may have gone unnoticed in girls, emphasizing the need for longitudinal studies of ADHD symptoms across the life span.

Keywords: ADHD; ASRS; Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale; gender.

MeSH terms

Adult
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity*
Child
Cognition
Female
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Male
Self Report
Sex Factors