The Psychometric Characteristics of the ADHD Rating Scale-Iv
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1998 The syP chometric Characteristics of the ADHD Rating Scale-Iv. George Walter Hebert Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Hebert, George Walter, "The sP ychometric Characteristics of the ADHD Rating Scale-Iv." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6781. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6781 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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THE PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ADHD RATING SCALE-IV A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Psychology by George Walter Hebert B.S., University of New Orleans, 1986 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1989 December 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9909823 UMI Microform 9909823 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. AH rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was conducted under the direction of Joseph C. Witt, Ph.D. I am eternally grateful for the support that Joe showed throughout my graduate training and especially during some of the more difficult moments involved for the completion of this project. I also wish to thank the other members of my committee: Drs. Denny, Gouvier, and Northup. Each of these committee members remained supportive and optimistic throughout the process. I am also grateful to the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority; Live Oak Upper Elementary; and St. Angela Merici School for allowing me to conduct this research at their facility. I also wish to thank those parents, teachers, and children who participated in the project. I wish to thank my family and friends who have supported me throughout all my endeavors. I especially wish to thank family members who are no longer here to share my joy in the completion of this project, namely Lucy Hebert, my grandmother, and Chester Fleming, J r . , my uncle. Finally, I wish to thank my wife, Nancy. I promise you that I will never do another dissertation. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................ii ABSTRACT ................................................. iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................. 1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................. 6 3 M E T H O D ......................................... 30 4 R E S U L T S ......................................... 43 5 DISCUSSION ..................................... 62 REFERENCES ............................................... 70 APPENDICES A CONSENT FORM ................................... 80 B PRINCIPAL PERMISSION FORM ...................... 82 C TEACHER PERMISSION FORM ........................ 83 D ADHD RATING SCALE-IV-HOME VERSION ............ 84 E ADHD RATING SCALE-IV-SCHOOL VERSION ......... 85 VITA ......................................................86 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The ADHD Rating Scale-IV is a screening instrument designed to assess attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. It is comprised of 18 items and has both a home and school version for parents and teachers to complete, respectively. A sample consisting of 178 parent- teacher dyads of children aged 6-12 years of age participated in the study. Psychometric investigation of these scales revealed high internal consistency, adequate test-retest reliability, and appropriate correlations with other measures of ADHD. Principal components factor analysis revealed two factors for both scales: (1) Inattention-hyperactivity and (2) Impulsivity- hyperactivity. Discriminant function analyses and base rate analyses revealed that these scales can correctly separate true ADHD children from normal controls but that it has significant difficulty differentiating other clinical populations. It was concluded that both scales have psychometric properties strong enough to be used as a screening measure. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a childhood disorder characterized by significant problems with attention span, impulse control, and motor activity. As one of the most common disorders of childhood, its prevalence has been estimated at three to five percent of school aged children and is diagnosed more often in males than females (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (DSM-IV); American Psychiatric Association, 1994). ADHD has also been shown to co-exist at high rates with other psychiatric disorders of childhood (Biederman, Newcorn, & Sprich, 1991; Jensen, Martin, and Cantwell, 1997) . However, the very nature of a disorder clearly indicates a categorical or medical approach that assumes a psychiatric disease identifiable by a set of discrete diagnostic criteria. Currently, many investigators support a dimensional or factorial approach to classification which employs the psychometric paradigm (Edelbrock & Costello, 1988; Steingard, Biederman, Doyle, & Sprich-Buckmisster, 1992) . ADHD has had and continues to have a historic evolution, both in terms of etiologies and diagnostic criteria. DuPaul (1992) outlined a specific strategy for conducting ADHD assessments whereby the ADHD Rating Scale (DuPaul, 1991) is utilized as a screening instrument. This instrument was based upon the diagnostic criteria for ADHD 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. according to the revised third edition of the DSM (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) . This screening instrument has since been updated to resemble the current criteria for ADHD as set forth by the recent fourth edition of the DSM. This scale is now referred to as the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (DuPaul, in preparation). Although this new instrument was expected to have similar psychometric properties to its predecessor, proper investigation of this instrument was warranted. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to psychometrically investigate this new scale. Exploration of the factor structure of this ADHD Rating Scale-IV was the first goal of this study. Its predecessor, the ADHD Rating Scale yielded two factors for both the home and school versions of the scale: inattention-hyperactivity and impulsiveness-hyperactivity. Likewise, it was hypothesized that this two factor structure would remain for this latest version of the scale. The next step in this investigation involved assessing the reliability of the scales.