Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts

Major

Psychology

Date of Defense

9-11-2023

Graduate Advisor

Hannah White, Ph.D.

Committee

Sandra J. E. Langeslag, Ph.D.

Carissa Phillipi, Ph.D.

Abstract

Historically, the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been found to be higher in men than women. However, recent work suggests that part of this discrepancy might be because ADHD may manifest in women in less disruptive ways and therefore be underdiagnosed. This issue is compounded by the fact that some ADHD traits may seem more “normative” at certain ages. To further understand potential biases in parent perception of ADHD symptoms, this study examines parent endorsement of the 18 DSM-5 criteria for ADHD cross-sectionally in a non-clinical sample of children from 3.3 to 6 years of age. It is hypothesized that controlling for effortful control, measured by the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006), results will show a higher ADHD symptom endorsement for boys than girls, higher endorsement by white than non-white parents, a lower symptom endorsement for older than younger children, and higher subjective social status related to lower symptom endorsement. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression show that beyond the variation due to effortful control differences, some of the variation in ADHD symptom endorsement is influenced by the child’s gender and age. However, race and subjective social status did not significantly predict ADHD symptom endorsement. The results of this research indicate that certain sociodemographic variables, such as gender and age, have a substantial influence on predicting parental endorsement for ADHD symptoms using the DSM-5 criteria. However, factors like race and subjective socioeconomic circumstances may not have the same predictive significance.

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