Reliability and validity of a semi-structured DSM-based diagnostic interview module for the assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in adult psychiatric outpatients.
Despite growing recognition that the symptoms and functional impairments of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) persist into adulthood, only a few psychometrically sound diagnostic measures have been developed for the assessment of ADHD in adults, and none have been validated for use in a broad treatment-seeking psychiatric sample. The current study presents the reliability and validity of a semi-structured DSM-based diagnostic interview module for ADHD, which was administered to 1194 adults presenting to an outpatient psychiatric practice. The module showed excellent internal consistency and interrater reliability, good convergent and discriminant validity (as indexed by relatively high correlations with self-report measures of ADHD and ADHD-related constructs and little or no correlation with other, non-ADHD symptom domains), and good construct validity (as indexed by significantly higher rates of psychosocial impairment and self-reported family history of ADHD in individuals who meet criteria for an ADHD diagnosis). This instrument is thus a reliable and valid diagnostic tool for the detection of ADHD in adults presenting for psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: eugenia_gorlin@brown.edu.
Eugenia I
EI
Gorlin
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Kristy
K
Dalrymple
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Iwona
I
Chelminski
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
Mark
M
Zimmerman
D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report
Assessment; Attention deficit disorder; Diagnostic interview; Psychometric properties