The debates around the diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have traditionally been approached from the perspective of the “medicalization processes” of children’s behaviour. However, this perspective tends to overlook the meanings of diagnosis and treatment of ADHD for children and their caregivers. The purpose of this article is to describe the discursive positions of children and their caregivers on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven Chilean children and their caregivers. The material was analysed following the procedures of the discourse structure analysis. A discursive structure was identified that configures four emerging realities: the myth of origin of the child’s behaviour and learning problems; the ambivalences in/of medicalization; the process of identity (dis)stabilization under diagnosis and treatment; and the subversion of medicalization. It is observed that the subjective experience of the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD is not homogeneous, since different discursive positions, family and institutional understandings that enter into conflict cross it. The experiences of ADHD are shaped by discursive structures that condition the meanings of this experience. The medicalization process is not univocal, but can take different forms and have consequences on children’s experiences and social trajectories.

Socioeconomic determinants and gender gaps in depressive symptoms in ChileBackground: There are marked differences associated with socio-economic factors in the prevalence of depressive symptoms (DS) in men and women. Aim: To estimate the association between socioeconomic status and DS in Chile and to estimate the gender gaps in this association. Material and Methods: The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was applied as part of a socioeconomic survey carried out in a representative community sample (n = 2913). Using this information, we analyzed the influence of social status (education level, occupation, household income) and other psychosocial factors (gender, perceived social support, stressful life events) on DS. Results: The prevalence of DS was 23.2% in women and 13.4% in men. A socioeconomic gradient was found in the distribution of DS. This gradient was more pronounced for women than for men. Gender, social support and stressful life events were the most important predictors of severe DS, with an estimated risk twice as high among women and almost three times as high among those with low social support. Conclusions: There is a combined effect between socio-economic and gender inequalities on DS. This partially explains the greater vulnerability of poor women and the DS gap between men and women.

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Acute meningitis following mumps vaccineIn Chile, the strain of the mumps virus used in the vaccine is Leningrad-Zagreb (L-Z). Although the relationship between meningitis and the L-Z strain remains controversial, most of the reported cases have shown a benign course without permanent neurological sequelae. We present a case of a patient who presented an aseptic meningitis three weeks after immunization with a mumps vaccine; and laboratory confirmation showed positive serum mumps IgM antibody. In this clinical case, there was a temporal relationship between vaccination and the onset of the mumps and subsequently the meningeal involvement; the immunoglobulin curve demonstrates acute infection after vaccination. Although it was not possible to isolate the virus in CSF, it is reasonable to attribute the picture to a post-vaccinal infection.