The latent classes of subclinical ADHD symptoms: convergences of multiple informant reports.
Sub-clinical ADHD symptoms fall into four matching parent-teacher lanes that stay stable across studies but shrink to two factors in adults.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kóbor et al. (2012) looked at kids who show ADHD-like problems but do not have a diagnosis.
They asked parents and teachers to fill out the same rating scale.
A computer program sorted the children into hidden groups based on the answers.
What they found
The program found four clear groups: mild mixed, severe mixed, inattentive-impulsive, and hyperactive-impulsive.
Teachers split the children into more detailed groups than parents did.
Both adults saw the same pattern, just at different zoom levels.
How this fits with other research
Arildskov et al. (2022) later used a stricter model on newer data. They still found one big ADHD factor, showing the groups hold up over time.
Gomez et al. (2021) asked adults to rate themselves. They only saw two factors: inattention and impulsivity. Hyperactivity items fell apart, hinting that the four-group picture may shrink with age.
Ng et al. (2019) saw that test scores and ratings often clash. The current study says parents and teachers mostly agree, so the clash is more likely with lab tasks than with everyday reports.
Why it matters
You can treat ADHD traits as lanes, not labels. If a child lands in the mild mixed lane, try class-wide supports first. If the map shows severe combined, move straight to assessment and behavior plans. Share the lane picture with teachers so everyone uses the same road signs.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of the present study was to conduct latent class analysis on the Hyperactivity scale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to identify distinct subgroups of subclinical ADHD in a multi-informant framework. We hypothesized a similar structure between teachers and parents, and differences in symptom severity across latent classes. Data was collected from a non-referred sample of children aged 8-13 years. We performed latent class analyses on parent (n = 383) and teacher (n = 391) ratings of the Hyperactivity scale items from both versions of the questionnaire. Those children who had ratings from both informants (n = 272) were included in the cross-informant analyses, in which the similar or equivalent classes across raters were determined. A three-class solution for parent report and a five-class solution for teacher report emerged in the subsample of boys. For girls, a three-class structure for parents and a four-class structure for teachers were optimal. Besides non-symptomatic groups, mild and severe combined classes, mild inattentive-impulsive classes, and among boys, a mild hyperactive-impulsive class was obtained. The cross-informant analyses demonstrated that quite similar subgroups were detached regardless of informant; however, the teacher classes were somewhat more elaborated. The results are in line with the previous latent class analytic studies, and support the combination of dimensional and categorical approaches. The importance of milder symptoms and sub-threshold ADHD categories are emphasized for the fields of neuropsychology, neuroscience, and education, as well as for diagnosis and personalized treatment.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.04.008