The Impact of Economic Inequality on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Australian-American Comparison

• In Event: 477 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Environment, Health, and Well-being

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed childhood mental disorder in the United States and Australia. Diagnosis, intervention and support for ADHD in both these nations is based on the guidelines provided by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The revision of the ADHD guidelines within the APA's latest diagnostic manual is likely to result in future growth in levels of diagnosis within these nations. However, ADHD is more than just a medical phenomenon. It is changing social expectations that redefine certain behaviours as contributors to mental disorders. For this reason, ADHD is worthy of examination from sociological perspectives.
Past sociological considerations of ADHD focus on it as an example of the medicalisation of western society. More recent critique suggests that there is scope for ADHD to also be examined as a sociological entity in its own right. Such examination can consider the role of popular culture, gender, ethnicity and economic inequality. Based on twenty years of data for over 90,000 young people, this paper finds that socio-economic status has a significant impact on the experience of ADHD for Australian families. It is a finding that contradicts the conventional view in the United States that ADHD is a middle class phenomenon. In response, the paper proposes that international comparisons of ADHD can shed new light on the impact of economic inequality for the families of individuals labelled with ADHD.

Author

• Brenton Prosser, Australian National University