 who fear the stigma of mental illness. However, he also said he is skeptical of the high national ADHD rates: Some 5.4 million children are diagnosed nationwide, and rates are climbing at more than 5 percent each year.
“Part of the diagnosis is so we can control them. Let’s give them a pill,’’ he said.
He said Latino culture encourages young children to show their full spirit, and is wary of biomedical explanations that pathologize highly exuberant children.
“Beware of normal,’’ Ribeiro said.
Jane Delgado, president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, said she believes a lack of awareness of ADHD largely explains the low diagnosis rates among Latino children. She added, however, that some Latino families have a wait-and-see attitude with troubled children and rely heavily on family interventions. She said that newly arrived Hispanic immigrants, despite higher poverty rates, often display signs of strong mental health, largely due to stronger family, community, and religious ties.
Nonetheless, she said, cultural stigma against mental conditions persists, and she is pushing for more awareness of ADHD in the Latino community. She said diagnosis is often not easy, requiring a range of input from family, teachers, and clinicians.
“It’s not like diagnosing a broken leg,’’ Delgado said.
Public health researchers emphasize that ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder, and optimal treatment often combines therapy with stimulant medication. Among children with moderate ADHD, 72 percent are on medications, federal data show.
Ruth Hughes, chief executive officer of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), said many communities are ill-served when they do not understand the physical underpinnings of this disorder, which cause parents to blame themselves or their children for the behaviors. She speculated that Hispanic children may have lower rates of ADHD due to some genetic cause, but low awareness is likely a major reason. Her group has launched numerous educational campaigns over the past decade, including bilingual brochures in low-income, urban communities.
Researchers are still struggling to understand differences in ADHD diagnosis among children. For example, Boys are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed than girls. And within the Latino community, federal researchers have found, children whose families came from Mexico have among the lowest ADHD rates, while youngsters from Puerto Rico have rates closer to the national average.
Visser of the CDC said she and her colleagues are devoting time to understanding these disparities. She said recent evidence suggests ADHD rates for Hispanic children are climbing, and at a rate significantly faster than for non-Hispanic youth.
“Something may be changing either in the way clinicians are diagnosing this group, or demand within the group for this diagnosis has changed,’’ Visser said.
Hernandez said she thinks Latino families living in this country will soon come to accept more cases of ADHD, particularly if their children’s behavior disrupts their education. She often wonders whether her son’s condition is a reflection of his personality, and not a disorder, but she is going with her pediatrician’s advice for now.
“I tell my friends that’s what the doctor diagnosed,’’ Hernandez said. “I’m not a doctor.’’
Globe correspondent Miriam Valverde contributed to this report. Patricia Wen can be reached at email@example.com.