title: Comparative Validity of DSM-IV and Alternative Empirically Derived Approaches for the Assessment of ADHD.
abstract: To identify ADHD symptoms that are most highly predictive of ADHD diagnostic status and compare them against Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) algorithms in predictions of functional impairment.
  
  
  
  Parent and teacher ratings of ADHD were obtained from an ethnically diverse (46% non-White) sample of 151 five- to ten-year-old children (27% female) with ( n = 76) and without ( n = 75) DSM-IV ADHD. We calculated total predictive values to estimate how ratings of each ADHD symptom predicted ADHD diagnostic status based on a structured parent diagnostic interview. Optimal symptom thresholds (i.e., not at all, just a little, pretty much, very much) for predicting ADHD caseness differed for inattention and hyperactivity and parents versus teachers. Algorithms consisting of highly predictive symptoms were then created and compared against DSM-IV-based algorithms to predict independent measures of functional impairment.
  
  
  
  Several empirically derived symptom algorithms were more strongly associated with functional impairment than DSM-IV-based algorithms.
  
  
  
  These preliminary findings suggest that alternative methods to aggregating ADHD symptoms may improve predictions of impairment.
authors.affiliation: 1 University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Shirag K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shemmassian
authors.affiliation: 1 University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Steve S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000073978:Academic Performance / Q000523:psychology; D000465:Algorithms; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006948:Hyperkinesis / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D000070777:School Teachers; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: ADHD; algorithms; assessment; impairment; informant