Overview
A new 2026 study from New Zealand found ADHD prevalence to be substantially higher among transgender, gender-diverse, and sexual minority youth than in their peers.
Transgender and gender-diverse individuals were about 2–3 times more likely to have ADHD than their cisgender peers, and non-heterosexual young people were more than twice as likely to have ADHD as heterosexual young people.
What did the study look at?
The researchers used the 2023 New Zealand Census with a dataset of over 1.2 million people. ADHD was identified from lifetime diagnosis and treatment records, and adjusted models estimated how much of the difference in rates was attributable to gender identity and sexual identity specifically, independent of other factors.
| Overall ADHD prevalence: | 3.4%, or 43,095 individuals. |
| Gender identity: | 10.3% in those identifying with another gender, 4.6% in males, 2.0% in females |
| Transgender status: | 9.9% in transgender individuals vs. 3.4% in non-transgender individuals |
| Sexual identity (ages 15–24): | 8.0% in non-heterosexual individuals vs. 3.6% in heterosexual individuals |
What to Take Away
While we don’t know exactly why people in the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to have ADHD, we do know that supporting the ADHD community means supporting the queer community too.
As my friend Christal (from @adhd.christal of Shimmer) said:
“You can’t fully support ADHD without making room for Pride, because so often, they’re the exact same people.”
Happy Pride from your fellow ADHD bisexual, and here are a few awesome creators with ADHD also in the community <3