Millions of children misdiagnosed with ADHD for being younger than their classmates
The study, soon to appear in the Journal of Health Economics, explains how children who are born just before the cutoff date to enter kindergarten are far more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children born just after the cutoff date. Those born before the cutoff date are the oldest in their class that same year, while those born after the cutoff date end up being the youngest in their grade when they start the following year.
“If a child is behaving poorly, if he’s inattentive, if he can’t sit still, it may simply be because he’s five and the other kids are six,” explained Todd Elder, assistant professor of economics at MSU and author of the study. “There’s a big difference between a five-year-old and a six-year-old, and teachers and medical practitioners need to take that into account when evaluating whether children have ADHD.”
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