The Wender Utah Rating Scale: Adult ADHD diagnostic tool or personality index?
OBJECTIVE
The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is used to retroactively assess ADHD symptoms. This study sought to determine whether the WURS actually functions as an index of dysfunctional personality traits.


METHODS
Five hundred twenty-two adult participants completed the WURS and at least one of the following measures: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III), Trails Making Test (Forms A and B), Conners' Continuous Performance Test, d2 Test of Attention, and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).


RESULTS
The WURS correlated significantly with all PAI clinical and treatment scales; however, of the neuropsychological measures, only the CPT significantly correlated with the WURS score. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant model that included clinical and treatment scales from the PAI as well as working memory and processing speed indexes from the WAIS-III that accounted for 39% of the variance in WURS scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Performance on the WURS was more related to dysfunctional personality traits than to actual attentional performance in this young adult sample. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 13(1) 87-94).
Hill
Benjamin D
BD
Louisiana State University, USA. bdhill@lsu.edu
Pella
Russell D
RD
Singh
Ashvind N
AN
Jones
Glenn N
GN
Gouvier
Wm Drew
WD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014145:Trail Making Test; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D055815:Young Adult