What does this research mean for the field?

Adjusting for academic achievement substantially alters socio-demographic patterns in ADHD diagnosis, reducing the gender gap and reversing the socioeconomic gradient, suggesting that certain groups face barriers to diagnosis despite comparable academic impairment. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate how socio-demographic differences in ADHD diagnosis shift when accounting for variations in academic achievement.

September 10, 2026Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental HealthOpen Access

Academic achievement and socio-demographic differences in ADHD diagnosis: a population-based study of Swedish compulsory school pupils

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Authors

BHBjörn HögbergUppsala University

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Implication

Population-based cross-sectional study reveals altered sociodemographic disparities in ADHD diagnosis after adjusting for grades in adolescents, indicating potential diagnostic referral barriers.

Key Points

To evaluate how socio-demographic differences in ADHD diagnosis shift when accounting for variations in academic achievement.
Conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using linked Swedish national registers comprising 296,380 pupils graduating compulsory school (grade 9, age 16) between 2015 and 2017.
Identified ADHD through specialist clinical diagnoses and dispensed medication, while evaluating academic achievement via compulsory school-leaving grades.
Applied logistic regression models with and without adjustment for school achievement to estimate marginal effects and predicted probabilities of diagnosis.
Unadjusted models showed higher ADHD diagnosis probabilities in boys, native-born pupils, and pupils whose parents had compulsory rather than tertiary education.
Adjustment for academic achievement reduced the gender gap by approximately two thirds, reversed the socioeconomic gradient such that children of tertiary-educated parents had the highest diagnosis probability, and slightly widened the native-immigrant gap.
Accounting for the timing of diagnosis reversed the observed gender disparity, yielding a higher probability of diagnosis among girls than among boys.

Cite This Study

Björn Högberg (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa27bfe58559d80afc75840 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01176-4

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Implication

Population-based cross-sectional study reveals altered sociodemographic disparities in ADHD diagnosis after adjusting for grades in adolescents, indicating potential diagnostic referral barriers.

Academic achievement and socio-demographic differences in ADHD diagnosis: a population-based study of Swedish compulsory school pupils

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Academic achievement and socio-demographic differences in ADHD diagnosis: a population-based study of Swedish compulsory school pupils

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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