Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Predictors of an Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnosis

Researchers have studied adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) for 25 years, and results have shown that they have multiple negative impacts on children. Some negative impacts from exposures to ACEs can be related to externalized behaviors that can be like ADHD behaviors , with some theorizing that there is an over-diagnosis of ADHD when it is a trauma-related disorder. Previous studies have explored whether gender, race, socioeconomic status, ACE exposures, or other variables predict an ADHD diagnosis. This study expanded on previous research with more recent data from the 2019–2020 National Survey of Children’s Health to determine which of several individual characteristics (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, age, or ACE exposure) were the most important predictors of an ADHD diagnosis. The results indicated that exposure to ACEs, especially to four or more ACEs, for children between the ages of 6–17 is the highest single predictor of an ADHD diagnosis compared to race, ethnicity, gender, and age.