The Stigma of ADHD: Teacher Ratings of Labeled Students
Abstract
Despite the increasing prevalence of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), little sociological research has focused on effects of diagnosis in schools. This study, which is grounded in the modified labeling approach, relies on three waves of Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K:2011) data to determine if teachers evaluate the academic performance of ADHD students as less promising than non-diagnosed peers. Results indicate that teachers are more likely to rate ADHD students as performing below grade level and are less likely to acknowledge these students as performing above grade level—regardless of demonstrated ability on subject-specific tests. The latter finding is, in part, a function of real and/or perceived behaviors in the classroom that inform teachers’ grade-level performance ratings. We argue that diagnosis may be a double-edged sword for children and their families, as it can provide access to special resources in the school but may activate teachers’ negative stereotypes about diagnosed students.
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The stigma associated with disclosure can lead many students to suffer in silence.
“However, the stigma associated with disclosure [54] can lead many students to suffer in silence.”
From Burnout by Design: How Digital Systems Overburden Neurodivergent Students in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [54]
Across HCI studies, there is a tendency to design systems that address perceived neurodivergent behaviours from an external viewpoint without adequately considering internal struggles.
“Across a number of studies [9, 29, 30, 39, 54, 55, 64, 74, 81, 90, 93], there is a noticeable tendency to design systems that address perceived neurodivergent behaviours, often from an external viewpoint, without adequately considering the internal struggles experienced by neurodivergent individuals.”
From Burnout by Design: How Digital Systems Overburden Neurodivergent Students in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [54]
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“Some evidence also suggests that ADHD is characterized by deficits in the cognitive domain, such as working memory, spatial memory, and reading impairments (August and Garfinkel 1990; Goldberg et al. 2005; Martinussen et al. 2005).”
Danielson, M. L., Bitsko, R. H., Ghandour, R. M., Holbrook, J. R., Kogan, M. D., & Blumberg, S. J. (2018) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2017.1417860 · Cited by 1,181 · see citing works
Subtle executive impairment in children with autism and children with ADHD
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“Some evidence also suggests that ADHD is characterized by deficits in the cognitive domain, such as working memory, spatial memory, and reading impairments (August and Garfinkel 1990; Goldberg et al. 2005; Martinussen et al. 2005).”
BackgroundRacial and ethnic disparities in ADHD diagnosis from kindergarten to eighth grade
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Bitsko, R. H., Claussen, A. H., Lichstein, J., Black, L. I., Jones, S. E., Danielson, M. L., Hoenig, J. M., Davis Jack, S. P., Brody, D. J., Gyawali, S., et al. (2022) · MMWR Supplements · doi:10.15585/mmwr.su7102a1 · Cited by 1,723 · see citing works
Danielson, M. L., Claussen, A. H., Bitsko, R. H., Katz, S. M., Newsome, K., Blumberg, S. J., Kogan, M. D., & Ghandour, R. (2024) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2024.2335625 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
ADHD and Technology Research – Investigated by Neurodivergent Readers
Spiel, K., Hornecker, E., Williams, R. M., & Good, J. (2022) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3491102.3517592 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Burnout by Design: How Digital Systems Overburden Neurodivergent Students in Higher Education
Tcherdakoff, N. A., Marshall, P., Dowthwaite, A., Bird, J., & Cox, A. L. (2025) · Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work · doi:10.1145/3729176.3729193 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“However, the stigma associated with disclosure [54] can lead many students to suffer in silence.”
Tcherdakoff, N. A. P., Stangroome, G. J., Milton, A., Holloway, C., Cecchinato, M. E., Nonnis, A., Eagle, T., Al Thani, D., Hong, H., & Williams, R. M. (2025) · Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3706599.3716288 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Metzger, A. N., & Hamilton, L. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Merced (US)
- Corresponding author
- Metzger, Ashley N.
- Venue
- Sociological Perspectives
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-07-15
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 258-279
- ISSN
- 0731-1214 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-8673
- OpenAlex
- W3043292142
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sociological Perspectives (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Education › Education Discipline and Inequality
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, teacher ratings, academic performance, diagnostic labeling, stigma, teacher stereotypes, classroom behavior, special education resources, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
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