ADHD-related sex differences in emotional symptoms across development

Alyssa C. De Ronda, Laura Rice, Yi Zhao, Keri S. Rosch, Stewart H. Mostofsky, Karen E. Seymour

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

To investigate developmental changes in emotion dysregulation (ED) and associated symptoms of emotional lability, irritability, anxiety, and depression, among girls and boys with and without ADHD from childhood through adolescence. Data were collected from a sample of 8–18-year-old children with (n = 264; 76 girls) and without (n = 153; 56 girls) ADHD, with multiple time-points from a subsample of participants (n = 121). Parents and youth completed rating scales assessing child ED, emotional lability, irritability, anxiety, and depression. Mixed effects models were employed to examine effects and interactions of diagnosis, sex [biological sex assigned at birth], age among boys and girls with and without ADHD. Mixed effects analyses showed sexually dimorphic developmental patterns between boys and girls, such that boys with ADHD showed a greater reduction in ED, irritability, and anxiety with age compared to girls with ADHD, whose symptom levels remained elevated relative to TD girls. Depressive symptoms were persistently elevated among girls with ADHD compared to boys with ADHD, whose symptoms decreased with age, relative to same-sex TD peers. While both boys and girls with ADHD showed higher levels of ED during childhood (compared to their sex-matched TD peers), mixed effects analyses revealed substantial sexually dimorphic patterns of emotional symptom change during adolescence: Boys with ADHD showed robust improvements in emotional symptoms from childhood to adolescence while girls with ADHD continued to show high and/or increased levels of ED, emotional lability, irritability, anxiety and depression.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1419-1432
Number of pages14
JournalEuropean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume33
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2024

Keywords

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • Comorbidity
  • Developmental patterns
  • Emotion regulation
  • Irritability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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