Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

For an individual to meet ADHD diagnostic criteria, symptoms and/or behaviours should be persistent for a six-month period and be present across two or more settings.  Symptoms should have a negative impact on aspects of an individuals’ life, including academic, social, and/or occupational functioning.  Diagnosing ADHD usually includes a checklist for rating ADHD symptoms and taking a history of the child from parents, teachers, and the child.

Untreated or diagnosed ADHD can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.  This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.  Untreated ADHD can also impact on education or occupational functioning as ADHD symptoms can make it hard for children to pay attention in class and a student with untreated ADHD might not learn everything they are taught.

In addition to a clinical interview, which involves talking about topics including current difficulties, childhood development, education and occupation, friendships and social interaction, health, strengths and preferences; our ADHD assessments can also include the use of objective psychometric assessment:

  • The Vanderbilt Assessment Scale contains items that screen for co-morbidities: oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and anxiety/depression. For the ADHD screen, the symptoms assessment component screens for symptoms that meet the criteria for both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD.
  • Childhood ADHD Symptoms Scale: This measure is an instrument consistent of the eighteen DSM-IV criteria for ADHD. It focuses on symptoms present between the ages of 5 to 12 years old, and symptoms present in the last six months.  Kai and his mother completed this assessment.
  • Conners Comprehensive Rating Scales-Revised (CRS-R): The CBRS-R provides an overview of child and adolescence concerns and disorder.  The CBRS-R aids with differential diagnosis, including comorbid disorders.  It identifies the potential eligibility in special education programmes, by determining the presence of social, emotional, behavioural, or academic difficulties.
  • Adolescent ADHD Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist (ASRSv1.1): The ASRS is an instrument consistent of the eighteen DSM-IV-TR criteria. Six of the eighteen questions were found to be most predictive of symptoms consistent with ADHD.  The remaining twelve questions related to ADHD Symptoms Checklist.
  • Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1): The ASRS is an instrument consistent of the eighteen DSM-IV-TR criteria. Six of the eighteen questions were found to be most predictive of symptoms consistent with ADHD.  The remaining twelve questions related to ADHD Symptoms Checklist.
  • Women’s ADHD Self-Assessment Symptom Inventory (SASI)

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2020/2023) and the British Psychological Society (2017) recommended these psychometric measures for the assessment of ADHD.