ADHD Prevalence Among U.S. Children and Adolescents in 2022: Diagnosis, Severity, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Treatment

Summary & key facts

A U.S. government survey from 2022 asked about children's health and found that ADHD remains common and appears to be more often diagnosed than in past years. About 1 in 9 children have ever been told they have ADHD, and most children with ADHD also have at least one other mental or developmental condition. Many get medication or behavior therapy, but about one third did not get any ADHD-specific treatment in the past year.

Key facts:

• About 1 in 9 U.S. children, roughly 7 million kids, have ever been told they have ADHD, and about 6.5 million had ADHD at the time of the 2022 survey.
• Among children who currently have ADHD, about 6 in 10 were rated as having moderate or severe symptoms.
• Around 8 in 10 children with ADHD had at least one other co-occurring mental, behavioral, or developmental condition.
• About half of children with current ADHD were taking ADHD medication during the year covered by the survey.
• About 4 in 10 children with ADHD had received behavioral treatment for ADHD in the past year.
• Nearly 1 in 3 children with ADHD did not receive any ADHD-specific treatment in the past year.
• The number of children ever diagnosed with ADHD increased by roughly 1 million between 2016 and 2022, showing a growing overall diagnosis rate.
• The study used a large national parent survey from 2022 with about 45,000 families, so the results describe what was happening across the United States that year.

Abstract

Pediatric ADHD remains an ongoing and expanding public health concern, as approximately 1 million more children had ever received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022 than in 2016. Estimates from the 2022 NSCH provide information on pediatric ADHD during the last full year of the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used by policymakers, government agencies, health care systems, public health practitioners, and other partners to plan for needs of children with ADHD.

Topics

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Attention deficit Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Clinical psychology Computer science Psychiatry Psychology Receipt World Wide Web

Conditions & symptoms

ADHD Anxiety Depression Anxiety or worry Difficulty focusing Sadness or low mood