ADHD in Adults: Does Age at Diagnosis Matter?
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To provide additional information about clinical features associated with adult ADHD in patients diagnosed in childhood compared to those first diagnosed in adulthood. METHOD: We stratified a sample of adults with ADHD into patients diagnosed in childhood versus adulthood and compared demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: We found similar clinical features in adults diagnosed in childhood and adults diagnosed in adulthood. Among those diagnosed in adulthood, 95% reported symptom onset in youth. Our results do not support the hypothesis that ADHD diagnosed in adulthood is due to misinterpreting symptoms of other disorders as ADHD. They also suggest incorporating behavioral signs of executive dysfunction into diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adults may increase diagnostic sensitivity. CONCLUSION: These results support the validity of ADHD diagnoses in adulthood, as these adults show similar clinical profiles to those diagnosed in youth. Our results also suggest that if adult-onset ADHD exists, it is rare.
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Study design elements, including cross-sectional versus longitudinal methodologies, influence the interpretation of ADHD prevalence.
“study design elements, including cross-sectional versus longitudinal methodologies, influence the interpretation of ADHD prevalence by either capturing a snapshot or longitudinal persistence of symptoms”
From ADHD in Adulthood: Clinical Presentation, Comorbidities, and Treatment Perspectives (2025) · cites this paper as [23]
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ADHD in Adulthood: Clinical Presentation, Comorbidities, and Treatment Perspectives
Bogdańska-Chomczyk, E., Majewski, M. K., & Kozłowska, A. (2025) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms262211020 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Additionally, study design elements, including cross-sectional versus longitudinal methodologies, influence the interpretation of ADHD prevalence by either capturing a snapshot or longitudinal persistence of symptoms [23].”
- Authors
- Hutt Vater, C., DiSalvo, M., Ehrlich, A., Parker, H., O’Connor, H., Faraone, S. V., & Biederman, J.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- SUNY Upstate Medical University (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Faraone, Stephen V.
- Venue
- Journal of Attention Disorders
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2024-01-02
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 614-624
- ISSN
- 1087-0547 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1246
- OpenAlex
- W4390541203
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 4.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Attention Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- MGH Pediatric Psychopharmacology Council Fund
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Keywords
- adult ADHD, age at diagnosis, childhood-onset ADHD, adult-onset ADHD, executive dysfunction, diagnostic validity, symptom onset, misdiagnosis, diagnostic criteria
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Humans, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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