title: Short-term persistence of DSM-IV ADHD diagnoses: influence of context, age, and gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the effect of social context and gender on persistence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children of early and middle school years. The study compared persistence of DSM-IV ADHD and ADHD not otherwise specified (NOS) over 2 years in two groups of Puerto Rican children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A three-wave study obtained data on Puerto Rican children 5 through 13 years of age at baseline. Samples were drawn in the South Bronx in New York (n = 1,138) and two metropolitan areas in Puerto Rico (n = 1,353). The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV was used to diagnose ADHD and ADHD-NOS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ADHD or ADHD-NOS diagnosis at wave 1 strongly predicted disorder at waves 2 and 3. ADHD had a significantly stronger predictive effect than ADHD-NOS consistently across site and gender. There was a significant interaction with baseline age. For those younger at baseline, the strength of the prediction of ADHD-NOS was relatively weak; for older children, the presence of ADHD-NOS at baseline predicted risk of subsequent ADHD or ADHD-NOS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Persistence of ADHD in children of similar ethnicity does not manifest differently across context and gender. Results suggest that age-specific symptom criteria and modification of age-of-onset criteria should be considered for the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan.
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bauermeister
authors.forename: Héctor R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Shrout
authors.forename: Ligia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Glorisa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Canino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment