Differences Between Men and Women in Long-Term Outcomes of ADHD

Background. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood-onset disorder, with increased risk for negative long-term outcomes in adulthood. These outcomes may differ between men/boys and women/girls with ADHD, but whether these differences are more pronounced in ADHD or similar to those in the general population remains unclear. Method. In an 18-year follow-up of 283 children it was assessed if sex moderated a variety of long-term outcomes across seven domains in those with ADHD, 50 women (Mage = 27.36) and 104 men (Mage = 29.40), and without ADHD, 77 women (Mage = 28.32) and 52 men (Mage = 27.94). Additional analyses explored the role of gender-expression. Results. Sex interacted with group for social functioning, where men with ADHD were more likely to show lower social functioning compared to women with ADHD and controls. There were no sex differences on the other outcomes. As sex and gender-expression were highly similar (r = .94), specific effects of gender-expression could not be studied. Conclusions. Generally, sex did not have a more pronounced effect on long-term outcomes of childhood ADHD in individuals with ADHD compared to the general population. Gender-expression could not be studied in our predominantly cis-gendered sample.