Innovations in Assessing ADHD: Development, Psychometric Properties, and Factor Structure of the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ADHD-SRS)

This research involved the development of a behavior rating scale designed to measure ADHD and the investigation of the scale's psychometric properties and factor structure. This scale, the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ADHD-SRS), was developed for the assessment of ADHD in the school-age (K–12) population. Participants were 1006 children and adolescents (in grades K–12) who were rated by their parents and/or teachers. The results indicate that the ADHD-SRS possesses strong internal consistency reliability and test–retest reliability and moderate cross-informant reliability. The data also suggest that the ADHD-SRS has strong content validity. Convergent validity of this instrument was also high, as demonstrated by correlations with three previously validated behavior rating scales. Significant age and gender differences in ADHD symptoms were found with both the parent and teacher respondent populations. Finally, the factor analysis of the ADHD-SRS suggested a two factor oblique rotation as the best fit for both the parent and the teacher data. After a visual inspection of the items which loaded on each factor, Factor 1 was named Hyperactive-Impulsive and Factor 2 was named Inattention. These two factors, along with the items which loaded on each factor, appear to be remarkably similar to the two categories listed in the DSM-IV for ADHD. Directions for future research, as well as clinical implications and limitations of the research are discussed.