Although research has been conducted to support the psychometric properties of rating scales used to assess ADHD in adults, little work has been published examining semi-structured interviews to assess ADHD in adults. The present study examined the test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of the Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) in a sample (N = 30) of patients referred to an outpatient clinic. Kappa statistics for individual symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity were in the fair to good range for current report and retrospective childhood report. Kappa values for overall diagnosis, which included all DSM-IV symptoms, were fair for both current (adult) ADHD diagnosis (kappa = .67) and childhood report (kappa = .69). Concurrent validity was demonstrated for adult hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and child inattentive symptoms. The findings are discussed in the context of overall issues pertaining to adult ADHD assessment.
Achenbach, T., McConaughy, S., & Howell, C. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213-231.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Applegate, B., Lahey, B. B., Hart, E. L., Biederman, J., Hynd, G. W, Barkley, R. A., et al. (1997). Validity of the age-of-onset criterion for ADHD: A report from the DSM-IV field trials. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1211-1221.
4.
Barkley, R. A. (1990). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford.
5.
Barkley, R. A., & Biederman, J. (1997). Toward a broader definition of the age-of-onset criterion for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1204-1210.
6.
Biederman, J., Faraone, S., Milberger, S., Guite, J., Mick, E., Chen, L., et al. (1996). A prospective 4-year follow-up study of attention-deficit hyperactivity and related disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53, 437-446.
7.
Brown, T. (1995). Brown attention deficit disorder scales. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
8.
Conners, C., Erhardt, D., Epstein, J., Parker, J., & Sitarenios, G. (1999). Self-ratings of ADHD symptoms in adults I: Factor structure and normative data. Journal of Attention Disorders, 3, 141-152.
9.
Conners, C. K., Erhardt, D., & Sparrow, E. (1999). Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS) technical manual. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
10.
Conners, C. K., Sitarenios, G., Parker, J. D. A., & Epstein, J. N. (1998). The Revised Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-R): Factor structure, reliability, and criterion validity. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 257-268.
11.
Dulcan, M. (1997). Practice parameters for the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(Suppl. 10), 85S-121S.
12.
Epstein, J. N., Johnson, D., & Conners, C. K. (2000). Conners’ Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
13.
Erhardt, D., Epstein, J. N., Conners, C. K., Parker, J. D. A., & Sitarenios, G. (1999). Self-ratings of ADHD symptoms in adults II: Reliability, validity, and diagnostic sensitivity. Journal of Attention Disorders, 3, 153-158.
14.
First, M. B., Gibbon, M., Williams, J. B. W., & Spitzer, R. L. (1997). SCID Screen Patient Questionnaire-Extended version. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
15.
Hervey, A. S., Epstein, J. N., & Curry, J. F. (2004). The neuropsychology of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Neuropsychology, 18, 485-503.
16.
Lahey, B. B., Applegate, B., McBurnett, K., Biederman, J., Greenhill, L., Hynd, G. W., et al. (1994). DSM-IV field trials for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1673-1685.
17.
Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Bessler, A., Malloy, P., & LaPadula, M. (1993). Adult outcome of hyperactive boys. Educational achievement, occupational rank, and psychiatric status. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 565-576.
18.
Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Klein, D. F., Bessler, A., & Shrout, P. (2002). Accuracy of adult recall of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1882-1888.
19.
Murphy, K. R., & Adler, L. A. (2004). Assessing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults: Focus on rating scales. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 65(Suppl. 3), 12-17.
20.
Murphy, K. R., & Barkley, R. A. (1996). Prevalence of DSM-IV symptoms of ADHD in adult licensed drivers: Implications for clinical diagnosis. Journal of Attention Disorders, 1, 147-161.
21.
Murphy, P., & Schachar, R. (2000). Use of self-ratings in the assessment of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1156-1159.
22.
Sawyer, M. G., Baghurst, P., & Clark, J. (1992). Differences between reports from children, parents and teachers: Implications for epidemiological studies. Australian New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 26, 652-660.
23.
Shaffer, D. (1994). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 633-638.
24.
Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M., & First, M. B. (1992). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). I: History, rationale, and description. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 624-629.
25.
Stein, M. A., Sandoval, R., Szumowski, E., Roizen, N., Reinecke, M. A., Blondis, T., et al. (1995). Psychometric characteristics of the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS): Reliability and factor structure for men and women. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 31, 425-433.
26.
Ward, M. F., Wender, P. H., & Reimherr, F. W. (1993). The Wender Utah Rating Scale: An aid in the retrospective diagnosis of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 885-890.
27.
Weiss, G., & Hechtman, L. T. (1986). Hyperactive children grown up. New York: Guilford.
28.
Weiss, M., Hechtman, L., & Weiss, G. (1999). ADHD in adulthood: A guide to current theory diagnosis and treatment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
29.
Wender, P. H. (1980). Attention deficit disorder (“minimal brain dysfunction”) in adults. A replication study of diagnosis and drug treatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 449-456.
30.
Wender, P. H. (1995). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M., First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Davies, M., Borus, J., et al. (1992). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIII-R (SCID): Multisite test-retest reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 630-636.
32.
Zanarini, M. C., Skodol, A. E., Bender, D., Dolan, R., Sanislow, C., Schaefer, E., et al. (2000). The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study: Reliability of Axis I and II diagnoses. Journal of Personality Disorders, 14, 291-299.
33.
Zucker, M., Morris, M. K., Ingram, S. M., Morris, R. D., & Bakeman, R. (2002). Concordance of self- and informant ratings of adults’ current and childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Psychological Assessment, 14, 379-389.
