Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Girls

Despite a density of research on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the past several decades that can conservatively be described as voluminous—and despite the considerable attention and controversy that have attended to this diagnostic category in both the scientific literature and popular media (see DeGrandpre & Hinshaw, 2000)—only an extremely small proportion of relevant investigations has focused on girls. Indeed, the predominance of males in the current literature far outweighs the ratio of boys to girls with the disorder, which has been estimated to be approximately 3:1 in community samples and perhaps twice as high in clinical samples (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Lahey, Miller, Gordon, & Riley, 1999). As a result, the field's predominant models reflect what is known largely or exclusively about males. Much of our current chapter constitutes an attempt to redress this state of affairs; we initially take up the question as to the roots of the male-predominated literature and evidentiary base in the field.