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ADHD in Adults: Does Age at Diagnosis Matter?

  • Chloe Hutt Vater
  • , Maura DiSalvo
  • , Alyssa Ehrlich
  • , Haley Parker
  • , Hannah O’Connor
  • , Stephen V. Faraone
  • , Joseph Biederman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To provide additional information about clinical features associated with adult ADHD in patients diagnosed in childhood compared to those first diagnosed in adulthood. Method: We stratified a sample of adults with ADHD into patients diagnosed in childhood versus adulthood and compared demographic and clinical characteristics. Results: We found similar clinical features in adults diagnosed in childhood and adults diagnosed in adulthood. Among those diagnosed in adulthood, 95% reported symptom onset in youth. Our results do not support the hypothesis that ADHD diagnosed in adulthood is due to misinterpreting symptoms of other disorders as ADHD. They also suggest incorporating behavioral signs of executive dysfunction into diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adults may increase diagnostic sensitivity. Conclusion: These results support the validity of ADHD diagnoses in adulthood, as these adults show similar clinical profiles to those diagnosed in youth. Our results also suggest that if adult-onset ADHD exists, it is rare.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)614-624
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Attention Disorders
Volume28
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ADHD
  • adults
  • diagnosis
  • onset

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