ADHD Rating Scale-IV: Checklists, Norms, and Clinical Interpretation

The ADHD Rating Scale-IV: Checklist, norms, and clinical interpretation (ADHD Rating Scale-IV; DuPaul, Power, Anastopoulos, & Reid, 1998) is a norm-referenced checklist that measures the symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) according to the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The diagnostic criteria changed from the DSM-III to the DSM-IV. These changes reflect the factor analyses of teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms. This includes two separate factors of Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity. The ADHD Rating Scale-IV was designed to incorporate these changes. The purpose of this scale is to provide clinicians with a means of gathering information regarding the frequency of certain behaviors from parents and teachers. This information may be used by clinicians to screen, diagnose, or evaluate treatment of ADHD. There is a home and school version of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV. The home version of the scale is also provided in Spanish. Each version is completed independently by the parent or teacher, who reports the frequency of the symptoms over the past 6 months (or the beginning of the school year if the teacher has not known the student for 6 months) on a 4-point Likert scale. The ADHD Rating Scale-IV is an 18-item questionnaire that takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. Normative data are provided for ages 5 to 18. The clinical trials on the normative data were conducted with 6to 14-year-old participants. Two subscales are distinguished on the ADHD Rating Scale-IV: Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity. The odd-numbered items represent the symptoms on the Inattention subscale, and the even-numbered items represent the symptoms on the HyperactiveImpulsive subscale. Results are described in terms of the Inattention and HyperactivityImpulsivity subscales, the total score, and percentile ranks for each score. Materials consist of the examiner’s manual, rating scales, and scoring sheets.