ADHD is more common than you think

ADHD is actually more common than you might realise.

It was first described about 100 years ago but is no more prevalent now, just better recognised. 

The incidence of ADHD is approximately the same across all countries and races. 

ADHD is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in children and adolescents. The prevalence of ADHD in children and adolescents internationally is 5–8 per cent, and in Australia is between 6 per cent and 10 per cent.* 

Most scientists believe adult ADHD remains underdiagnosed because diagnostic criteria for ADHD in the DSM-V were developed for children, and because adults with ADHD often have co-occurring conditions that may mask the symptoms of ADHD. It's estimated that fewer than 20 per cent of adults with ADHD are currently diagnosed and/or treated by psychiatrists.**

In New Zealand, an estimated 280,000 Kiwis have ADHD. ​​In New Zealand, an estimated 280,000 Kiwis have ADHD. Data from the Ministry of Health suggested in 2020 that only 2.4 per cent of those aged between 2-14 years reported the prevalence of an ADHD diagnosis.^



ADHD is not sexist

  • Previously, it was thought that males were more likely to have ADHD than females.
  • While more males get a diagnosis it's now believed the gender ratio is 1:1.
  • This is because young females often present with the predominantly inattentive presentation which is less noticeable. So they're more likely to be overlooked.

ADHD occurs in all ethnic and socioeconomic groups

  • It usually runs in families.
  • Of the teenagers who continue to have ADHD, approximately one in 10 will grow out of it by adulthood.^^
  • Approximately 25 per cent of all children with ADHD will have a parent with ADHD.

A lot of parents who have children assessed and diagnosed with ADHD begin to wonder if they are part of the 25 per cent of parents with a child of ADHD who also has it.

So you can grow out of ADHD behaviour/symptoms?

  • This isn't to say that those who grow out of it won't still experience behaviours consistent with ADHD but on reassessment, they would no longer experience them enough to warrant a diagnosis.

* Australasian ADHD Professionals Association, Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), First edition, June 2022, p 67, sourced online November 2022

**Additude Magazine, ADHD Statistics: New ADD Facts and Research, updated 13 July 2022, sourced online 12 April 2023

^ The University if Auckland, Whāraurau, 2020 Stocktake of the Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Services in New Zealand, p 13, 2021, sourced online 14 March 2023​

^^ Margaret H. Sibley, Ph.D., L. Eugene Arnold, M.D., James M. Swanson, Ph.D., Lily T. Hechtman, M.D., Traci M. Kennedy, Ph.D., Elizabeth Owens, Ph.D., Brooke S.G. Molina, Ph.D., Peter S. Jensen, M.D., Stephen P. Hinshaw, Ph.D., Arunima Roy, Ph.D., Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, Ph.D., Jeffrey H. Newcorn, M.D., Luis A. Rohde, M.D., Ph.D., for the MTA Cooperative Group, Variable Patterns of Remission From ADHD in the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD, The American Journal of Psychiatry, August 2021