Girls' Symptoms Different, ADHD Risks Real, Researchers Say
A major long-term study of girls diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in elementary school has found they are at greater risk for substance abuse, emotional problems and academic difficulties in adolescence than their peers who don't have the common neurobehavioral condition.
The results, health professionals say, should help dispel ideas that the disorder, which affects an estimated 4.4 million American children, poses less of a risk to girls than to boys, on whom most research has focused.
The federally funded study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, involves more than 200 girls who have been followed since 1997, when they were 6 to 12 years old. The broadly focused study is designed to measure the ways ADHD, a disorder characterized by pervasive inattention and impulsivity, affects peer relationships, impairs school performance and is linked to substance abuse and psychological problems.
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