Construct Validity and Diagnostic Utility of the Cognitive Assessment System for ADHD (original) (raw)
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Assessing children with ADHD in primary care settings
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2008
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a commonly occurring behavioral disorder among children. Community-based physicians are often the primary providers of services for children with ADHD. A set of consensus guidelines has been established that provides best practice diagnostic procedures for primary care physicians. These assessment recommendations emphasize the importance of collecting parent and teacher rating scales, using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria as the basis for making an ADHD diagnosis, and evaluating for comorbid conditions. The ADHD diagnostic process is complicated by several factors including the subjectivity of the ADHD diagnosis, differential diagnosis with comorbid conditions, and the inconsistent manifestation of ADHD symptomatology across development. The present article provides recommendations for addressing these complex diagnostic issues. ADHD assessment methods and tools, the process of assessing for comorbid conditions and making differential diagnosis, and when to make a referral to specialists are reviewed.
Evidence-based assessment of ADHD diagnosis in children and adolescents
Applied neuropsychology. Child
This study illustrates the accuracy and efficiency of using an evidence-based assessment (EBA) strategy for diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by integrating the scale scores obtained on BASC-3 teacher and parent rating scales. The examined process used empirical diagnostic likelihood ratios (DLRs) derived from a sample of children with ADHD (N = 339) matched on demographic characteristics from the normative sample. The results show that behavioral scales of executive functioning and functional communication provided incremental utility in ADHD diagnosis. With a revised probability of .80 or higher as the diagnostic criterion, teachers, and parents positively diagnosed 70% and 94% of the ADHD cases respectively. The EBA approach was efficient, with four scales on average used to reach the proposed posterior probability for final diagnosis. Finally, teachers and parents demonstrated a high agreement with respect to the diagnosis results and scales used for t...
Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1992
Investigated the utility of two clinic-based tests, the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT; Kagan, 1966) and a version of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT; Gordon, 1983), in the assessment of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At a group level of analysis, scores on the CPT and MFFT were found to share little variance with parent and teacher report on several behavior rating scales used to evaluate ADHD. Further, clinic test scores, either alone or in combination, resulted in classification decisions that frequently disagreed with a diagnosis of ADHD based on parent interview and behavior-rating-scale data. The limited utility of currently available tests in the evaluation of ADHD suggests the need to develop clinic-based measures of sufficient ecological validity, which can be used in conjunction with parent and teacher report.
Evidence-Based Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Journal of The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2006
This article examines evidence-based assessment practices for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature, symptoms, associated features, and comorbidity of ADHD are briefly described, followed by a selective review of the literature on the reliability and validity of ADHD assessment methods. It is concluded that symptom rating scales based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), empirically and rationally derived ADHD rating scales, structured interviews, global impairment measures, and behavioral observations are evidence-based ADHD assessment methods. The most efficient assessment method is obtaining information through parent and teacher rating scales; both parent and teacher ratings are needed for clinical purposes. Brief, non-DSM based rating scales are highly correlated with DSM scales but are much more efficient and just as effective at diagnosing ADHD. No incremental validity or utility is conferred by structured interviews when parent and teacher ratings are utilized. Observational procedures are empirically valid but not practical for clinical use. However, individualized assessments of specific target behaviors approximate observations and have both validity and treatment utility. Measures of impairment that report functioning in key domains (peer, family, school) as well as globally have more treatment utility than nonspecific global measures of impairment. DSM diagnosis per se has not been demonstrated to have treatment utility, so the diagnostic phase of assessment should be completed with minimal time and expense so that resources can be focused on other aspects of assessment, particularly treatment planning. We argue that the main focus of assessment should be on target behavior selection, contextual factors, functional analyses, treatment planning, and outcome monitoring.
The Psychometric Characteristics of the ADHD Rating Scale-Iv
1998
R E F E R E N C E S ............................................... 70 APPENDICES A CONSENT F O R M ................................... 80 B PRINCIPAL PERMISSION F O R M ...................... 82 C TEACHER PERMISSION F O R M ........................ 83 D ADHD RATING SCALE-IV-HOME VERSION ............ 84 E ADHD RATING SCALE-IV-SCHOOL VERSION ......... 85 V I T A ......................................................86
Comparison of Three ADHD Screening Instruments in College Students of Varying Cognitive Ability
Over the past two decades there has been an increasing awareness among professionals in the arena of learning disabilities that the condition known as ADHD and the related attention deficit disorder (ADHD-PI) are not solely problems of childhood that are outgrown with the passing of adolescence. Originally, this assertion was made in large part because the hyperactive part of the disorder typically dissipated with entrance into adulthood. Recent evidence, however, suggests that ADHD extends beyond childhood and adolescence. Studies over the last 15 years indicate that 50% to 80% of children correctly diagnosed with ADHD continue to exhibit significant symptoms of the disorder into adulthood
The clinical utility of behavior rating scales: Comments on the diagnostic assessment of ADHD
Journal of School Psychology, 1996
Responding to Reid and Maag's critique of behavior rating scales in assessing ADHD, published in a previous issue of the Journal of&hod Psychoio~, we provided specific recommendations for improving the accuracy of diagnostic decisions using rating scales and affirmed the importance of these procedures in the assessment of ADHD. Strategies for managing the error intrinsic to the use of diagnostic measures, specifically behavior rating scales, were outlined. A multiple stage procedure, involving one or more levels of screening prior to conducting a diagnostic assessment, was recommended as a strategy to increase diagnostic accuracy in a time-and cost-efficient manner.