In community-based samples, among children who do not meet diagnostic criteria for ADHD, symptoms of inattention and overactivity correlate inversely with academic performance this finding indicates that the severity threshold in this disorder is arbitrary. Criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association guide diagnosis in the United States. The criteria in the fifth and most recent version, the DSM-5, which was released in May 2013, have not changed substantially from those of the DSM-IV.
In both editions, the diagnosis in children is based on the presence of at least six of nine symptoms in either or both of two domains: inattention and hyperactivity–impulsivity. The DSM-5 differs from the previous edition in that adolescents
and adults must present with at least five spectrum disorder.
symptoms in either or both of the two domains,
symptoms must be present before 12 years of
age, and the diagnosis of ADHD can be made in
persons who also have a diagnosis of autism