They will work extra hard to achieve success by staying up late to finish homework or tidying their rooms when asked. In turn, girls are more likely to want to obey social norms and not cause trouble. In my clinical experience, adults expect girls to be tidy and organized, achieve good grades and to be easygoing. Without meaning to, adults have different expectations of girls than boys. Lastly, symptoms of ADHD in girls are sometimes masked because they work hard to meet adult expectations. Because hyperactive and impulsive behaviours are more disruptive in the classroom, teachers are more likely to notice boys as a problem and refer them for attention challenges. Not only do symptoms of ADHD look different in boys but boys also have a tendency to be more hyperactive and impulsive than girls. Thus, girls do not score as high as boys on these scales and are underrepresented because they do not meet criteria for a diagnosis.ĭoes homework take your seemingly studious daughter longer than it should? (Shutterstock) A teacher completing a rating scale might rate the boy higher on hyperactive questions than the girl because the second example is not seen as disruptive. ![]() ![]() In contrast, a hyperactive girl may be out of her seat but have taken on the role of classroom helper, wandering around to different desks. It is likely, given his constant shifting and unequal balance on the seat, that the back legs of the chair will eventually lift up and the chair pitch forward causing the boy to fall to the floor. A boy who is hyperactive might have trouble sitting in his seat in the classroom - so he sits with one knee on the seat and one foot on the floor. It has been argued that the rating scales developed to assess ADHD have been based on the behaviours observed in the mainly male research samples.ĪDHD can look different in girls than boys. ![]() This suggests girls go unnoticed when they are younger.Īs a disorder traditionally seen as affecting males, and with males referred more often for a diagnosis, research to assess ADHD has been based on samples largely consisting of boys. Although three times as many boys are diagnosed with ADHD in childhood than girls, the diagnostic rates in adults are more equally divided between males and females. Individuals with ADHD exhibit three main clusters of symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. Perhaps most alarmingly, girls who struggle with ADHD for a long period of time can suffer from mental health problems.Īs a psychologist in clinical practice, I used to see many older girls and adult women with ADHD who had already been prescribed medication to treat anxiety and depression. Undiagnosed ADHD has long-term consequences including an increased likelihood of engaging in risky behaviours - such as unprotected sex and substance use - as well as academic underachievement and low self-esteem. It may be, however, that the girl does experience ADHD symptoms that interfere with her daily life - and that these symptoms are overlooked by the adults around her. Few people would describe a bubbly young girl with lots of friends, who works hard to get good grades. When asked to describe a typical child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), most people would describe a young boy who climbs on things, is impatient and does not do what he is told.
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