Choosing an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder rating scale: is item randomization necessary?
OBJECTIVE
Although behavior rating scales are generally considered de riguer for best clinical practices in the diagnosis and medical management of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they are often time consuming to score, especially if items are arranged in random order. This study compares two methods of ordering rating scale items; namely, diagnostic-cluster versus randomized-order formats.


METHODS
Participants were the parents of 207 consecutive referrals (5-17 years) to a child psychiatry outpatient service who were diagnosed as having a variety of emotional and behavioral disorders. Children were assessed with a battery of standardized assessment instruments and clinical interviews, including the ADHD Symptom Checklist-4. Half completed a diagnostic-cluster version and half completed a randomized-order version.


RESULTS
Findings indicated that the internal consistency reliability, clinical utility (for identifying children with ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder), and concurrent validity of the two-item arrangement formats were virtually identical.


CONCLUSIONS
Item arrangement does not appear to impact the reliability or validity of a commonly used ADHD rating scale.
Sprafkin
Joyce
J
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8790, USA. joyce.sprafkin@stonybrook.edu
Gadow
Kenneth D
KD
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results