Open AccessFactorial validity, reliability of assessments and prevalence of ADHD behavioural symptoms in day and residential treatment centres for children with behavioural problems
Author(s) -
Scholte E.M.,
Van BerckelaerOnnes I.A.,
Van Der Ploeg J.D.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.121
Subject(s) - impulsivity , psychology , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , clinical psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , psychiatry , judgement , attention deficit , structural equation modeling , statistics , mathematics , political science , law
Abstract This study uses the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom ratings of professional care workers to estimate the prevalence of ADHD symptoms among children in day treatment centres (N = 162) and residential treatment centres (N = 195) in Holland. Although further research is needed, the study supports the suggestion that such ratings can add to reliable diagnostic outcomes when assessing the behavioural symptoms of ADHD in children in the centres. It is estimated that nearly a fifth of the children in such centres exhibit the symptoms of ADHD in the judgement of professional care workers. Model testing using confirmatory factor analysis favours a dimensional behavioural model that comprises all the three constitutional symptom dimensions of ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity) instead of the two‐factor model as used in the DSM‐IV (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity). However, the differences of fit between both models were only small and the hyperactivity and impulsivity factors were highly correlated. This suggests that, in practice, a two‐factor model can also be appropriate. The issue of whether a two‐factor or a three‐factor model is more appropriate thus remains unsolved in this study. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd.