The Statistics of ADHD

ADD by the numbers - a summary of the research of Russell Barkley,Ph.D.

A quick summary of statistical research of Russell Barkley

• On average, there are 1 to 3 children who have ADHD in every classroom of 30 students.
• Three to six more boys are diagnosed than girls.
• The rate of emotional development for children with ADHD is 30% slower than their non-ADD peers. For example, a 10-year-old with ADHD operates at the maturity level of about a 7-year-old; a 16-year-old beginning driver is using the decision making skills of an 11-year-old.
• 65% of children with ADHD have problems with defiance, non-compliance and other problems with authority figures, including verbal hostility and temper tantrums.
• 25% of students with ADHD have other serious learning problems in one or more of these areas: oral expression, listening skills, reading comprehension, and math.
• Half of all ADHD students have listening comprehension problems.
• About one-third of these students have one or more of the following:

1. Languange deficits (poor listening comprehension, poor verbal expression, poor reading comprehension)
2. Poor organizational skills
3. Poor memory
4. Poor fine motor skills

• Students with ADHD are two to three times more likely to have problems with expressive language than their non-ADD peers.
• 75% of boys with ADD are hyperactive; 60% of girls with ADD are hyperactive.
• 40% of children who have ADHD have at least one parent who has ADHD
• 50% of children who have ADHD also have sleep problems.
• Parents of a child who has ADHD are three times as likely to separate or divorce as parents of non-ADD children
• Teenagers with ADHD have almost four times as many traffic citations as their non-ADD peers.
• Teens with ADHD have four times as many car wrecks and are seven times more likely to have a second accident.
• 21% of teens with ADHD skip school repeatedly.
• 35% eventually drop out of school.
• 45% have been suspended.
• 30% have failed or had to repeat a year of school.