Journal Title:  Annals of Clinical Psychiatry | Vol:  18 | Issue:  3 | Year:  2006   
Print ISSN:  1040-1237 | Online ISSN:  1547-3325   

Validity of Pilot Adult ADHD Self- Report Scale (ASRS) to Rate Adult ADHD Symptoms*

Lenard A. Adler MD
Thomas Spencer MD
Stephen V. Faraone PhD
Ronald C. Kessler PhD
Mary J. Howes PhD
Joseph Biederman MD
Kristina Secnik PhD

pages: 145 - 148
PDF
Full Text

Abstract:

Background. The goal of this study was to validate the pilot Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (pilot ASRS) versus standard clinician ratings on the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD RS).

Method. Sixty adult ADHD patients took the self-administered ADHD RS and then raters administered the standard ADHD RS. Internal consistency of symptom scores was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. Agreement of raters was established by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) between scales.

Results. Internal consistency was high for both patient and rater-administered versions (Cronbach's alpha 0.88, 0.89, respectively). The ICC between scales for total scores was also high (0.84); ICCs for subset symptom scores were also high (both 0.83). There was acceptable agreement for individual items (% agreement: 43%–72%) and significant kappa coefficients for all items (p < 0.001).

Conclusions. The pilot Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale symptom checklist is a reliable and valid scale for evaluating ADHD for adults and shows a high internal consistency and high concurrent validity with the rater-administered ADHD RS.