By best estimates, there are a lot of children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Between 1997 and 2016, the incidence of ADHD among children almost doubled, from 6.1% to 10.2 percent. As of 2019, 10% of children, including 13% of 12- to 17-year-olds, had ever been diagnosed with ADHD. More controversially, many of these children—62% of all children ages 2-17 with ADHD, e.g.—are taking stimulant medications like Adderall and Ritalin to treat their symptoms.
But who are these kids? And what can we say about their families? The data I review below suggest that medication use for ADHD is common across many groups of people, but that it is consistently more common in some family types than others.
To learn more about the ADHD-medicated population, I identify minors in the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the most recent available wave of that survey before data collection was interrupted by the Covid pandemic. The NHANES is a biennial survey of the health and nutrition of American adults and children, combining interviews with a physical examination. Among other information, the NHANES collects information on prescription drugs respondents are taking, and for what purpose. In this article, I identify respondents taking drugs for ADHD using this information.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Institute for Family Studies
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Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
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