title: Internal validity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and overt conduct disorder symptoms in young children: implications from teacher ratings for a dimensional approach to symptom validity.
abstract: Uses a dimensional approach to evaluate the internal validity of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) inattention (I) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (H/I), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and overt conduct disorder (CD) symptoms (i.e., whether a symptom has a stronger correlation with its own dimension than the other three dimensions). In Study 1, teachers rated 1,445 children on the DSM-III-R I, H/I, ODD, and overt CD symptoms. In Study 2, teachers rated 1,711 children on the DSM-IV I, H/I, ODD, and overt CD symptoms. All the I symptoms showed internal validity in both studies. In contrast, the H/I symptoms and the ODD symptoms, especially the H/I symptoms, showed weaker internal validity. All the overt CD symptoms showed internal validity except the DSM-IV bullies others symptom, with this symptom being more strongly related to the ODD dimension. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a 4-factor model consisting of I, H/I, ODD, and overt CD factors. Finally, the importance of internal validity for the construct validation of the disruptive behavior symptoms is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-4820, USA.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results