Societal Disruptions and Childhood ADHD Diagnosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We study how the societal disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted diagnosis of a prevalent childhood mental health condition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using both nationwide private health insurance claims and a single state's comprehensive electronic health records...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of human resources Vol. 59; no. S; pp. S187 - S226
Main Authors Freedman, Seth, Marquardt, Kelli, Salcedo, Dario, Simon, Kosali, Wing, Coady
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madison University of Wisconsin Press 01.04.2024
Subjects
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Child & adolescent mental health
Childhood
Computerized medical records
COVID-19
Health insurance
Health records
Medical diagnosis
Mental health
Pandemics
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Summary:We study how the societal disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted diagnosis of a prevalent childhood mental health condition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using both nationwide private health insurance claims and a single state's comprehensive electronic health records, we compare children exposed to the pandemic to same-aged children prior to the pandemic. We find the pandemic reduced new ADHD diagnoses by 8.6 percent among boys and 11.0 percent among girls nationwide through February 2021. We further show that higher levels of in-person schooling in fall 2020 dampened the decline for girls but had no moderating effect for boys.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
DOI:10.3368/jhr.1222-12708R2