Although originally considered to be a disorder of childhood, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly being diagnosed for the first time in adulthood. Yet we know little about the social characteristics (race, gender, and social class) of those first labeled in adulthood, how these differ from those first labeled in childhood/adolescence, and whether the ADHD label is applied proportionately across social groups given ADHD symptomology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the current research considers how typifications of ADHD affect application of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence and in adulthood. Results indicate that even after controlling for ADHD symptoms, social characteristics are important predictors of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence but are less influential in predicting ADHD labeling in adulthood. Additionally, results indicate the importance of race in moderating the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and application of the ADHD label throughout the life course.

尽管最初被认为是儿童期疾病，但注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）在成年后首次被诊断出来。然而，对于成年后首先被标记的那些人的社会特征（种族，性别和社会阶层），这些特征与童年/青春期中被首先标记的那些人的社会特征（种族，性别和社会阶层）之间的差异，以及已知的多动症症状，ADHD标记是否在各个社会群体中按比例使用的情况我们知之甚少。利用来自全国青少年健康状况纵向研究的数据，当前的研究考虑了多动症的典型性如何影响多动症标签在儿童/青少年和成年时期的应用。结果表明，即使控制了ADHD症状，社会特征是儿童/青少年ADHD标签的重要预测指标，但对成人ADHD标签的预测影响较小。此外，结果表明种族在减轻儿童ADHD症状与整个生命过程中ADHD标签的应用之间的关联方面的重要性。