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The prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses and medication use has increased over time around the world, but significant regional differences remain. This paper aims to determine and explain disparities in ADHD prevalence and medication use among school-aged children in two distinct school systems, in Flanders (Belgium) and Québec (Canada). We present detailed descriptive and comparative analyses of data from 35 schools, 114 teachers, and 1046 parents (children) that were collected as part of a comparative international project. The data concern teacher and parent suspicions, teachers' ratings of ADHD-related behaviors in children, teachers' views of medication use, and teachers' beliefs about ADHD. The results show that, compared with Flanders, Québec had significantly more children diagnosed with ADHD and more frequent suspicions of ADHD in children by teachers and parents. We refer to the conceptual, institutional, and interactional levels of medicalization to interpret our findings and conclude that social and cultural readings of children's behaviors differ greatly between regions. Medicalization of children's behaviors is more common in Québec than in Flanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the postwar evolution (1945-1980) in the official discourse of the socio-cultural branches of the Catholic labor movement in Flanders, Belgium. More particularly, four organizations of the ACW (General Christian Workers' Organization) were studied: the two youth organizations that were once led by the international renowned cleric, Jozef Cardijn, the KAJ (Catholic Workers' Youth) and the VKAJ (Female Catholic Workers' Youth), and the socio-cultural organizations for adult females and males, the Catholic Workers' Wives (KAV) and the Catholic Workers' League (KWB). The research consisted of a detailed study of the official discourse of these organizations for the period 1945-1980 by analyzing the monthly publications for the members and the core members. Other relevant documents were also consulted, such as the texts of lectures and speeches given at national training courses and congresses. The study reveled three phases within the postwar public discourse of the socio-cultural organizations of the ACW. In the first part of the paper, these phases are identified and described. The second part of the paper offers a sociological interpretation by linking the evolution of discourse to the postwar process of individualization.