Gender and socioeconomic dimensions of relative age effects on ADHD prescriptions: Evidence from Denmark

Konrad Juel Thide, Felix Johannes Pettersson Bøgh and Birthe Larsen

Economics Letters, 2024, vol. 244, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of relative age on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prescriptions among school-aged children. Using a regression discontinuity design, we leverage the quasi-experimental variation in school starting age. We use administrative data for all children aged 6–16 from 2010 to 2019 in Denmark. We find a significant decrease in ADHD prescription rates for girls who are relatively old compared to their class mates. We do not find any significant results for boys. We further test the social gradient in relative age on ADHD prescriptions and find that the effect is entirely driven by girls from low income families.

Keywords: ADHD; Misdiagnoses; Children; Gender; Socio-economic outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004841

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112000

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