title: Exploring the gender gap in referrals for children with ADHD and other disruptive behavior disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study examined the impact of the gender of children with ADHD on teachers' perceptions toward inattentive, hyperactive, or oppositional behaviors, and how these perceptions relate to teachers' ratings of children's impairment and referral recommendations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Teachers read eight vignettes depicting boys and girls with different subtypes of ADHD, as well as one depicting comorbidity (ADHD + ODD). Teachers then completed measures of impairment, and responded to questions about what services they would likely refer for the child and why.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Teachers rated girls as being significantly more impaired and more in need of services than boys. Regardless of gender, teachers overwhelmingly reported preferring the use of behavior modification for the described child. Also, children who were described with symptoms of ADHD-predominately inattentive subtype were rated as being the least impaired, while girls described as hyperactive and impulsive were rated by teachers as being the most impaired.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study adds to previous literature on gender bias in ADHD referrals by providing evidence for the differential referral of ADHD boys and girls to treatment based on presentation of symptoms.
authors.affiliation: University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA. ecoles@fiu.edu
authors.forename: Erika K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slavec
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baroni
mesh_terms: D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012574:Schools; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors