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Parental investment, self-control, and sex differences in the expression of adhd

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Abstract

Women do most of the parenting. To provide a stable and healthier setting for children they must sublimate their own interests and feelings, which puts greater pressures on women to communicate needs clearly or to be deceptive when the occasion demands. The likely advantage in communication skills and self-control may ameliorate the impact of disorders like ADHD where the most serious deficit is in self-inhibition. This would account for the strikingly uneven male to female sex ratio of 2:1 (in epidemiological samples) to 10:1 (in clinical settings), the higher threshold for females, and the sex difference in the pattern of associated mental disorders.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University, 98225, Bellingham, WA

    Joan C. Stevenson & Don C. Williams

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  1. Joan C. Stevenson
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Correspondence to Joan C. Stevenson.

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Joan C. Stevenson and Don C. Williams are professors in the anthropology and biology departments, respectively. Her background is in anthropological genetics and demography and his is in comparative biochemistry and enzymology. Their mutual interests concern how behaviors biosocially evolve.

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Stevenson, J.C., Williams, D.C. Parental investment, self-control, and sex differences in the expression of adhd. Hum Nat 11, 405–422 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-000-1010-6

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