Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: ADHD affects 4 to 6% of the child population in the United States (APA, 2000). However, research has revealed that minorities are diagnosed with ADHD at a much lower rate compared with non-minorities. In particular, Latinos are less likely to have been diagnosed with ADHD than non-Hispanic whites (Yeh et al, 2002). Overall, a limited amount of research has focused on ADHD in minority populations.

Research that focuses on the differences in ADHD between racial and ethnic groups is important for successful and culturally competent diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. In this study, the research question is: How does level of acculturation of mothers identifying as Latina relate to their children's ADHD diagnosis?

Methodology: Data from the CDC's 2003 National Survey of Children's Health was used. This national telephone survey is used to collect information about child well-being, health, and family and environmental contexts. Telephone numbers were randomly sampled to find households that had children aged 0 to 17. The total number of interviews conducted was 102,353 of that 5,881 identified as Latino mothers born in the United States (CDC, 2003). Logistic regression analysis was conducted with STATA 8.0 which allowed the adjustment of standard errors to reflect the complex cluster sample. All tests were analyzed utilizing a 95% confidence level.

Results: Of all three models performed, Latinas acculturation had a significant impact on their children's diagnoses of ADHD. The first model controlled for family and school functioning, and acculturation level. Mother's level of acculturation was significant (OR= 8.0, p < .001). The second and third models took into account mother and child functioning. The second model controlled for family and school functioning, and acculturation level with an additional measure of mother's mental health. Although mother's mental health prevalence was not significant, mother's acculturation level was (OR = 8.6, p < .001). The third model included all of the previously mentioned variables with an additional measure of child's prevalence of diagnosed learning disability. Learning disability was significant in the model (OR= 2.1, p < .001) and lowered the mother's acculturation odds ratio (OR= 7.8, p < .001). Although there are strict gender roles in the Latino culture, gender had no impact on diagnosis of ADHD even when controlling for family and school functioning, and acculturation level (p > .05).

Implications: Finding relationships between a Latina's acculturation level and her child's ADHD diagnosis will aid social workers to focus programming in those areas of greatest need.

References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.-Text Revision). Washington, DC: Author.

Yeh, M., McCabe, K., Hurlburt, M., Hough, R., Hazen, A., Culver, S., et al. (2002). Referral sources, diagnoses, and service types of youth in public outpatient mental health care: A focus on ethnic minorities. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 29(1), 45-60.