A scoping review mapped which clinical diagnoses are associated with the terms 'neurodivergent' and 'neurodiverse' in empirical mental health literature, searching four major databases up to August 1, 2025, and identifying 134 studies with 151,134 participants.
Autism (68.7%) and ADHD (64.2%) were the most common diagnoses linked to these terms, but 29 studies (21.6%) specified no clinical diagnoses at all; participant identification relied on self-report (41.8%) or self-identification (37.3%), reflecting high heterogeneity.
Scoping reviews do not appraise study quality, so the heterogeneity identified may underestimate or overestimate true definitional inconsistency. Reliance on self-reported and self-identified diagnoses across included studies limits clinical precision.
Clinicians and researchers should use specific diagnostic labels (e.g., autism, ADHD) rather than 'neurodivergent' when describing clinically defined populations. Reserve 'neurodivergent' for contexts centered on self-identification and lived experience.
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