Scales for the identification of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a systematic review.
Conners’ and Wender Utah are the best-supported adult ADHD screeners, yet most backing studies are weak.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team hunted for every paper that tested adult ADHD rating scales. They kept 14 tools and graded each study’s quality.
Most studies were small or used weak designs, so the authors flagged where better data are needed.
What they found
Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale and the Wender Utah short form came out on top. Their questions held up across samples, but the proof is still thin.
No other scale had enough solid backing to trust for high-stakes decisions.
How this fits with other research
Abdekhodaie et al. (2012) also liked Conners, yet they worked with Iranian preschoolers. Their good news for kids lines up with the adult praise, showing the brand works across ages.
Matson et al. (2004) looked at ADHD scales for children with intellectual disability. Teachers’ ratings stayed steady, but parents’ scores drifted. This warns us that even strong tools can wobble when the reporter changes.
Eggleston et al. (2018) shift the spotlight to sleep. They say clinicians should screen for sleep disorders in every ADHD case. Taylor et al. (2011) never checked if the best scales ask about sleep, so you may need to add a separate sleep tool.
Why it matters
If you assess adults for ADHD, start with Conners’ or Wender Utah, but double-check sleep and gather data from more than one source. Push for bigger, cleaner studies so we can trust the numbers we use to plan treatment.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is prevalent in the adult population. The associated co-morbidities and impairments can be relieved with treatment. Therefore, several rating scales have been developed to identify adults with ADHD who may benefit from treatment. No systematic review has yet sought to evaluate these scales in more detail. The present systematic review was undertaken to describe the properties, including psychometric statistics, of the currently available adult ADHD rating scales and their scoring methods, along with the procedure for development. Descriptive synthesis of the data is presented and study quality has been assessed by an objective quality assessment tool. The properties of each scale are discussed to make judgements about their validity and usefulness. The literature search retrieved 35 validation studies of adult ADHD rating scales and 14 separate scales were identified. The majority of studies were of poor quality and reported insufficient detail. Of the 14 scales, the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating scale and the Wender Utah Rating Scale (short version) had more robust psychometric statistics and content validity. More research into these scales, with good quality studies, is needed to confirm the findings of this review. Future studies of ADHD rating scales should be reported in more detail so that further reviews have more support for their findings.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.12.036