4/15/25 Penny Peng: A Comprehensive Examination of Sex-differentiated Manifestations of ADHD Symptoms
Clinical Brown Bag
Penny Peng
Graduate Student
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
Location: Zoom
A Comprehensive Examination of Sex-differentiated Manifestations of ADHD Symptoms
Penny (Zheyue) Peng is a second-year student in Vanderbilt’s Clinical Science program and is a member of Dr. Ashley Watts’ Mechanisms of Addiction and Psychopathology Lab. She previously earned her undergraduate degree and conducted post-baccalaureate research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research uses varied quantitative methods to inform the classification and causes of psychopathology, with a current focus on ADHD.
Presentation Abstract: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common developmental condition characterized by age-inappropriate and impairing levels of inattention and hyperactivity/ impulsivity. ADHD is diagnosed more frequently in boys than girls in both clinical (2 to 9:1) and community samples (1.8 to 4:1). Although there are sex differences in the base rate of ADHD (or mean levels of ADHD), there is far less consideration of ADHD’s sex-differentiated manifestations, or differential comorbidity patterns across the sexes. To date, limited research suggests that ADHD is more comorbid with externalizing in boys and internalizing in girls. Factors such as informant effects, clinical ascertainment bias, and the fields’ focus on an ADHD composite further complicate the existing literature. In the present study, we examined mean-level sex differences in ADHD variables (i.e., ADHD composite, individual symptoms) reported by three informants and 2) sex differences in the magnitude of associations between ADHD and 77 external criteria within ADHD’s nomological network (e.g., psychopathology, neurocognitive task performance). Finally, we considered replication across four waves of data, from age 9-10 to 13-14. Boys had higher levels of ADHD and its symptoms than girls. Only 3.5% of tests (115/3,240) supported significant sex-differentiated manifestations in ADHD or its symptoms. In contrast with the existing literature, ADHD was more strongly associated with internalizing and externalizing in boys than girls. Most observed sex-differentiated manifestations were very small to small in magnitude, suggesting that the sex-differentiated manifestations of ADHD may be the exception rather than the rule.
https://vanderbilt.zoom.us/j/96882292273?pwd=G3zeVaPsYWGy1e6p0IPIYap2c1SaT0.1
Meeting ID: 968 8229 2273
Passcode: 702697
Publication:
Peng, Z., Stanton, K., Dominguez-Alvarez, B., & Watts, A. L. (2024). Where does attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder fit in the psychopathology hierarchy? A symptom-focused analysis. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
Peng, Z., Nguyen, P.T., Hinshaw, S.P., & Watts, A. L. (under review). A Comprehensive examination of sex-differentiated manifestations of ADHD symptoms. (pre-registration: https://osf.io/gf6an/).
Peng, Z. & Watts, A.L. (in preparation). Common cause versus dynamic mutualism: Empirical insights into ADHD’s placement within psychopathology hierarchies.