 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.