Identifying Girls With the Inattentive Type
Abstract
Understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has come a long way since its early description as a moral and behavioral deficit. ADHD has various subtypes, each with comorbid disabilities. Despite these advances, gaps remain in identifying and understanding girls with ADHD, especially when they have the inattentive-type ADHD. This article synthesizes what is known about girls with ADHD, and it is directed toward teachers, counselors, and psychologists who work with girls in school settings. To accomplish this goal, ADHD is examined with a low-resolution lens, then from two higher resolution lenses. The low-resolution lens uses identification criteria per the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The first high-resolution lens looks at how girls with ADHD differ from boys with ADHD; the second high-resolution lens looks at how girls with ADHD differ from their nonidentified female peers. A case is made for using the two finer-grained lenses to identify and intervene with girls.