Mum brain or ADHD? Check the criteria (childhood onset + impact on life)

DSM-5 codifies the two criteria this method names: age-of-onset raised from 7 to 12 (Criterion B) and a functional-impairment requirement (Criterion D) that symptoms reduce social/academic/occupational functioning. The change to age 12 is backed by research finding no clinical differences (course, severity, outcome, treatment response) between children identified at 7 vs later, supporting onset-before-12 as a validity gate.

Directly validates the age-of-onset (<12) criterion in adults by comparing quality of life, functional impairment and family function across onset groups, supporting that the criterion meaningfully tracks impairment in adult ADHD presentations.

Foundational study questioning the strict age-7 cutoff; informed the DSM-5 move to 12. Key limitation for this method: retrospective recall is weak in adults — only ~50% of adults with clinical ADHD recalled symptoms before age 7, vs ~95% before age 12. The 'zawsze taki byłeś' self-report is thus genuinely informative but imperfect.

Field trial testing the DSM-5 ADHD criteria (including impairment and onset) in young adults, providing empirical reliability/validity data for the criteria set this method invokes.

ROC analyses showed low discrimination for recalled age-at-onset; recalling specific childhood symptoms may beat recalling an exact onset age. Cautions that retrospective onset assessment in adults has real validity limits — directly tempering the 'check the before-12 box' heuristic.