A research study, “Self-Reported ADHD Diagnosis Status Among Working-Age Adults in the United States: Evidence From the 2023 National Wellbeing Survey,” published in the Journal of Attention Disorders, reveals a significant increase in the number of working-age adults in the United States who report having ever been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The study, co-authored by Maxwell professors Andrew London, Shannon Monnat and Iliya Gutin, found that nearly 14% of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 reported a past diagnosis, a figure substantially higher than estimates from just over a decade ago. They also uncovered notable differences in diagnosis rates across various demographic groups, including sex, age, race, education level, and where people live.

“There were several reasons to believe that the percentage of working-age adults who have been diagnosed with ADHD by a health care provider has increased over time. However, there is limited population-representative data to test that idea,” says London, professor of sociology.

“At the time we began this paper, we believed the National Wellbeing Survey was the only recent national data set that would allow such estimates to be made. While the paper was in review, another set of estimates became available. Hence, at the editor’s and reviewers’ suggestion, we spent considerable time in this paper talking about similarities and differences in the estimates obtained from the two studies. This research fills a major gap in the literature,” London says.

Read more in the PsyPost article, “ADHD diagnoses on the rise among working-age adults in the United States.”