The unexplored void of ADHD and African-American research: A review of the literature
- Resource Type
- Authors
- D. Ridley Brome; Joseph Biederman; Patricia George; Stephen V. Faraone; Valerie J. Samuel; Shannon Curtis; Andrea B. Taylor; Ayanna Thornell
- Source
- Scopus-Elsevier
- Subject
- African american
MEDLINE
Ethnic group
030229 sport sciences
behavioral disciplines and activities
Developmental psychology
Body of knowledge
03 medical and health sciences
Clinical Psychology
0302 clinical medicine
030225 pediatrics
Treatment study
mental disorders
Culturally sensitive
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Psychology
Clinical psychology
- Language
Objective: To identify the body of knowledge exploring the subject of ADHD and African- Americans. Method: A systematic review of the literature was conducted through the Medline, Psychlit and Psychlnfo databases. Results: In contrast to thousands of articles on ADHD, only 16 articles were identified that dealt with ADHD in African-American youth. Additionally, only a handful of these articles had ethnicity as the primary focus of research. Studies that examined ADHD among African-Americans in a school context showed that race may affect how teachers diagnose hyperactivity. Treatment studies suggested that African-Americans may respond similarly to the same ADHD medications as do Caucasians. Studies evaluating ADHD assessment tools were so sparse that they were largely inconclusive. Discussion: The paucity of studies on the subject of ADHD and African-Americans suggests the urgent need for more research to be done in this area. Such studies should be based on culturally sensitive designs.