IUBio

Need Info Adult ADHD

Michalchik michalcm at physlog-po.physlog.uiowa.edu
Mon Jul 3 17:51:57 EST 1995


In my opinion their are no satisfactory screening tests for ADHD 
particularly in adults. The ones that are used generally rely upon 
apriori decisions as to exactly what the problem is in ADHD rather than 
empirical correlations between test design and real world problems. 
Chances are if you use a screening test to select your study group that 
you will isolate a sub-population of adults that have a psychiatric 
problem that shares some of the features of ADHD but that doesn't 
represent most common etiological origens of the disease. Testing as it 
is used now is to supplement the diagnosis arrived at from a structured 
interview and to help weed out complicating or misleading comorbities 
like other learning disabilities.

I suggest several things. Read the section on diagnosis of ADHD in the 
Book "Driven to Distraction". It should be available in most large 
bookstores and libraries. It briefly goes over the more commonly used 
tests and tells in general terms why they are poor screening devices. 
Follow-up on the diagnostic references listed in there. Contact 
psychiatrists in your area that specialize in learning disabilities in 
adults and ask them if they would tell their patients that there is a 
need for research subjects with ADHD.

Most people with ADHD can focus in the highly structured environment of 
traditional psychological tests. The problem becomes manifest only when 
attentional priorities become less obvious and more demanding.





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