Social Class, Gender, and Children's Behavior Problems across Two Decades

Jayanti Owens, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Prevalence of diagnosed childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased seven-fold in the U.S. since 1987, with a growing absolute gap between boys and girls. Prevalence of clinical levels of ADHD symptoms is most over-represented among low-SES boys. It is unclear whether rising prevalence reflects true changes in underlying symptoms. Using two national samples of children across two decades, this study finds that the gender gap in ADHD-linked behaviors has emerged even between the low-SES (but not high-SES) children with the lowest behavior problems. A large portion of the growing gap among the worst-behaved low- and high-SES children is explained by family and health shifts. Strikingly, almost none of the growing gender gap among the best-behaved low-SES children is explained by family and health shifts. Findings suggest the growing gap among low-income children's behavior problems is related to changing perceptions of behaviors for this well-behaved segment of low-SES boys.