ADHD and Gender: subjective experiences of children in Chile

Abstract

Although research on ADHD has tended to ignore gender differentials, recent contributions produced mainly from epidemiology have revealed that this diagnostic category seems to be strongly related to gender. However, these contributions seem to limit their scope to the study of the symptoms as well as cognitive, affective and social functioning of children, leaving aside subjective aspects associated with the ADHD practices of diagnosis and treatment. Thus, this article aims to explore how the gender dimension crosses the subjective experience of children diagnosed with ADHD. Based on open interviews conducted with children between the ages of 7 and 13, we show general trends that articulate gender and characteristics associated with the ADHD diagnosis, while at the same time, with children’s experiences that dislocate such trends. The findings were grouped according to four emerging axes: (1) locations, (2) abilities, (3) approches, (4) interactions. Thus, we will show how the experience of boys and girls is multiple in relation to the diagnosis and it is not possible to be reduced to a gender binary perspective.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A pilot study for symptom assessment and diagnosis in children in Chile

“…Rendering to that study, the prevalence of ADHD in Chile is 10.3% among children ages 4–18, with the highest prevalence in ages four to eleven (15.5% nationally and 18.7% in Santiago), representing one of the highest prevalence in the world ( Uribe et al, 2019 ). The most prevalent subtype is the hyperactive-impulsive, showing no gender differences, and the most prevalent comorbidities are anxiety disorders and oppositional disorder.…”

“…This leads to another relevant issue: the fact that the diagnosis rate of “special educational need” disorders (defined by “PIE”) are the basis to a state subside to the schools, and since ADHD is one of them, they diagnosis can be used as a strategy to obtain additional economic resources, which has aroused different suspicions ( Reyes et al, 2019 ). Surprisingly or not, the sophistication of these strategies has coincided with the sustained increase of ADHD prevalence rates on child and youth population ( Uribe et al, 2019 ). In this work, ADHD is understood as a contingent pathology and a public and clinical health problem ( Pelham et al, 2020 ), due to its transversal impact on the different areas of childhood development and the importance of clearly establishing its structure, etiology, and expression.…”

Excess of Attention. The Construction of a Disorder in Chilean Schools

“…Various debates and controversies related to ADHD have traditionally focused on the prevalence of the diagnosis and on the medicalization of child behavior, to the detriment of perspectives that shed light on: 1) the social uses of overdiagnosis, 2) prescription drug consumption, and 3) the subjective experience and social trajectories of children (BÉHAGUE;LÉZÉ, 2015;BERGEY et al, 2018;COTTET et al, 2019;ROJAS et al, 2018;URIBE et al, 2019). This has meant that our attention has been focused on attentional conduct and the individual consequences of the diagnosis, rather than on subjective and social experiences.…”

Exceso De Atención: De La Composición De Un Trastorno en La Escuela Chilena

“…Los distintos debates y controversias han sido tradicionalmente abordados desde el ángulo de la prevalencia del diagnóstico y de la medicalización del comportamiento infantil, en perjuicio de una perspectiva sobre los usos sociales de éste, de los medicamentos prescritos, y de la experiencia subjetiva junto a las trayectorias sociales de niña(o)s (BEHAGUE; LEZE, 2015;BERGEY et al, 2018;COTTET et al, 2019;ROJAS et al, 2018;URIBE et al, 2019).…”

“…A partir de allí uno de los principales diagnósticos que se dispara en su prevalencia es, justamente, el TDAH. Por esta razón, entre otras, ha ganado importante espacio en la opinión pública la tesis de su sobrediagnóstico, sin embargo, creemos fundamental comprender desde la acción del PIE en el aula el modo en que se hace emerger aquello que denominaremos Situación TDAH (CLARO, 2015;REYES et al, 2019;URIBE et al, 2019), para apreciar el fenómeno en su conjunto. Esta apariencia de sobrediagnóstico es parte de lo que habría que explicar y no una explicación a la prevalencia.…”