Changing the DSM-5 ADHD Criteria to Represent the Symptoms of Girls and Women with Maggie Sibley, Ph.D.  — 2025

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition) provides our current system for diagnosing ADHD. The DSM-5 ADHD criteria were shaped over several decades based on research conducted with young boys, leaving many questions about their appropriateness for girls and women. In this presentation, Dr. Sibley will discuss key ways in which future DSM editions might be revised to improve identification of ADHD in girls and women. She will describe the process the American Psychiatric Association uses to revise the DSM and how women with ADHD can contribute to crowdsourcing of new symptoms for future DSM editions.

About Maggie Sibley, PH.D.:

Maggie Sibley, Ph.D. is a researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine who has been studying ADHD for nearly two decades. She is a clinical psychologist by training who specializes in ADHD diagnosis and treatment in adolescent and adult populations. Dr. Sibley has authored over 120 scholarly publications on ADHD with research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, Institute of Education Sciences, Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation, and American Psychological Foundation. She is Secretary of the American Professional Society for ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD), a Professional Advisory Board Member for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), chair of the APSARD Adult ADHD Guidelines Diagnosis and Screening Subcommittee, an Editorial Advisory Board Member for Attention magazine, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Attention Disorders. She is the author of Parent-Teen Therapy for Executive Function Deficits and ADHD: Building Skills and Motivation published by Guilford Press in 2017. Dr. Sibley is interested in understanding public health trends in ADHD, including the rise of ADHD help-seeking among women post-COVID-19 pandemic.