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Sex differences in ADHD symptom severity
Author(s) -
Arnett Anne B.,
Pennington Bruce F.,
Willcutt Erik G.,
DeFries John C.,
Olson Richard K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12337
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , endophenotype , mediation , analysis of variance , clinical psychology , significant difference , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , sibling , conduct disorder , developmental psychology , audiology , psychiatry , medicine , political science , law
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.