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Clinical utility of the test of variables of attention (TOVA) in the diagnosis of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Author(s) -
Forbes Gordon B.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199806)54:4<461::aid-jclp8>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - psychology , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , attention deficit , rating scale , medical diagnosis , test (biology) , attention deficit disorder , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , paleontology , pathology , biology
Ability of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) to distinguish between referred children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other (OTHER) clinical diagnoses were studied. The ADHD group differed from the OTHER group on TOVA variables and most measures from the Revised Conners Teacher Rating Scale (RCTRS) and ADD‐H Comprehensive Teacher's Rating Scale (ACTeRS). The criteria of any one TOVA variable > 1.5 standard deviations from age and sex adjusted means correctly identified 80% of the sample with attention deficit disorders and 72% of the sample without attention deficit disorder. Cases misclassified by teacher ratings were often correctly classified by the TOVA and conversely. The TOVA makes a unique and important contribution to diagnostic evaluations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 461–476, 1998.