Mother and teacher reports of ADHD symptoms: DSM-IV Questionnaire data.
OBJECTIVE
Diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought to be best accomplished by a multimodal approach. In many research and clinical settings, such extensive procedures may not be feasible. A screening instrument that could identify children meeting necessary (but not sufficient) criteria would permit selection of subgroups for more resource-intensive diagnostic procedures.


METHODS
The Diagnostic Rating Scale (DRS) was completed by the mothers and teachers of 124 children referred to hospital-based clinics and 225 nonreferred children. The authors performed principal components analysis (PCA) on the questionnaire, compared the scores obtained by children from the 2 samples, and examined age and gender effects. Diagnoses derived from the DRS were not validated against structured diagnostic interviews.


RESULTS
PCAs replicated the DSM-IV symptom combinations. Children from the referred sample exhibited more symptoms (p < .001) than children from the community sample. Boys were overrepresented among the children who received DRS-derived ADHD diagnoses. Girls were more likely (92%) to receive a diagnosis of ADHD, predominantly inattentive subtype, than other ADHD diagnoses.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study provide preliminary support for the validity of the parent and teacher DRS as time- and resource-efficient screening instruments for examining symptoms associated with ADHD.
Weiler
M D
MD
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. weiler_m@a1.tch.harvard.edu
Bellinger
D
D
Marmor
J
J
Rancier
S
S
Waber
D
D
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012574:Schools; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity