COMPARISON OF

TWO SCALES FOR

ASSESSING
ATTENTION DEFICIT
HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER
Conners 3rd Edition
ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale

What is Attention
Deficit
Hyperactivity
Disorder?

ttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

(ADHD) is a chronic medical condition that
is estimated to affect between 5% and 9%
of all children (ADD ADHD Information
Library, 2012)

he DSM-IV-TR (DSM) breaks down ADHD

symptoms into two categories: inattentive
and hyperactive-impulsive (American
Psychiatric Association 2000)

hese symptoms must be present before the

age of 7, for at least 6 months,
maladaptive, functionally impairing across
two or more contexts, inconsistent with
developmental level, and differentiated
from other mental disorders (American
Psychiatric Association, 2000).

Why Assess for

ADHD.

hildren with ADHD have shown to

have persistent academic difficulties.
ncreased risk for learning disabilities.
ower average marks.
ore failed grades.
ore expulsions.
ncreased dropout rates.
ower rates of university and college
completion (Weiss & Hechtman as
cited in Johnston, 2002; Ingersoll,
1988).

How Do We Assess for ADHD?

biological tests or brains scans available for diagnosis.

No

There are
only rating scales and questionnaires that measure the presence of symptoms
(Canadian ADHD practice guidelines, 2010).
Rating
scales and questionnaires are an easy and efficient way of obtaining
information and documenting change over time; they are not diagnostic
(Canadian ADHD practice guidelines, 2010).
Evaluation
s must include a full medical and physical exam, clinical interviews with
parents, teachers, and the child.
We must
be cautious to rule out differential diagnoses; anxiety, depression, food
allergies, fetal alcohol syndrome, and family problems are just some of the
conditions that could be misdiagnosed as ADHD (ADD ADHD Information
Library, 2012).
We also
have to tease out comorbid disorders like oppositional defiance disorder, and
conduct disorder.

CONNERS 3RD
EDITION (CONNERS
3)
ADHD SYMPTOMS
RATING SCALE
(ADHD-SRS)

Description of the scales

Administration of the scales
Scale Development
Psychometric Properties
Personal Critique
Summary

Description of
Conners 3

eleased in 2008 to assess ADHD and the

comorbid conditions of oppositional defiance
disorder and conduct disorder.
ncludes screening items for anxiety and
depression to help with differential diagnoses
(Frick, Barry & Kamphaus, 2011).
ssesses children between the ages of six and
18.
aper and pencil rating scale consisting of three
different forms one for each; parent, teacher,
and self-assessment and includes a full and a
short version.
uestions are answered on a scale from 0
(Never or Seldom) to 3 (Very true or very
frequently) (Arffa, 2012, para. 1).
he full version questionnaires comprise of 110
questions (parent), 115 questions (teacher),
and 99 questions (self-assessment) (Arffa,
2012).
oincides with the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD .

Description of
ADHD-SRS

ssesses children between the ages of five and

18 years old (Verhulst & van der Ende, 2006).
onsists of 56 items that are based on the
DSM-IV criteria for ADHD (Verhulst & van der
Ende, 2006).
aper and pencil inventory that is given to
parents, and teachers.
ach informant receives the same rating scale
to complete.
ut there are separate norms for both
informants (Jones, 2012).
onsists Likert-type scale ranging from 0
(behavior does not occur) to 4 (behavior
occurs one to several times an hour) (Jones,
2012, para. 1).

Administration of
the Conners 3
and ADHD-SRS

nformants fill out a paper and

pencil check lists and return to the
clinician.

an be completed by informants in
approximately 15-20 minutes.

and scored and have the option of

being computer scored.

evel B assessments.

Conners 3 Test
Development

reated after five years of research (Frick et

al., 2011).
Normative sample of 1,000 cases was
obtained mostly from a United States with
only few collected from Canada (Frick et al.,
2011).
he standardization samples are based upon
to race, ethnicity, gender, and parent
education of the population according to the
US Census statistics (Frick et al., 2011).
n equal number of boys and girls were
included in the normative sample (Frick et
al., 2011).
rick, Barry, and Kamphaus (2011) stated
norm-referenced T-scores are provided
separately for boys and girls, which does
limit interpretation to sex-only
comparisons (Frick et al., 2011, p. 131).

ADHD-SRS Test
Development

ield tested and evaluated several

different items to include on their scale
that correlated directly with the DSM-IV
criteria(Shapiro & Kratochwill, 2002).
oth teacher and parent norms are very
consistent with the two domains of
ADHD symptoms from DSM-IV, and thus
are labelled Inattention and
Hyperactive-Impulsive (Shapiro &
Kratochwill, 2002).
tandardization sample is comprised of
more than a 1,000 cases of both
teacher and parents nationwide in the
United States (Shapiro & Kratochwill,
2002).

Conners 3
Psychometric
Properties

ighly recommended by the MMY

(Arffa, 2012).

xcellent reliability data, modest

interrater reliability, and
substantial validity data (Arffa,
2012).

nternal consistency coefficients

are very high; 90 or above
(Arffa, 2012) - meaning the
items are that are supposed to
measure the same ability or trait
will most likely do this.

Conners 3
Psychometric
Properties

hen given between two and four

week intervals the test-retest
reliability ranged from high to very
high; .85 for parents, .94 for
teachers, and .88 for and self-report
forms (Kao & Thomas, 2008).

nterrater reliability ranged from

acceptable to high; this indicated
high levels of consistency between
parentparent (.81) and/or teacher
teacher ratings (.73 ) of a child or
adolescent (Kao & Thomas, 2008).

Conners 3
Psychometric
Properties (cont.)

reas with the lowest

reliability scores are
between parentparent
and teacherteacher
score reports (Kao &
Thomas, 2008, p. 600).
onvergent and
discriminate validity:
accurately distinguish
clinical groups from the
general population.

Conners 3
Psychometric
Properties (cont.)

ccurately discriminates
between ADHD subtypes,
other disruptive behavioural
disorders, and learning
disorders (Arffa, 2012).
ompared to similar
assessments it showed
reasonable evidence of
convergent validity when
compared with other similar
ADHD assessments (Arffa,
2012).

ADHD-SRS
Psychometric
Properties

dequate to excellent technical

and psychometric properties
(Shapiro and Kratochwill,
2002).
igh internal consistency
reliability with scores in the .98
to .99 (Shapiro & Kratochwill,
2002).
hen given twice with a 2-week
interval the test-retest
reliability was high; scoring in
the .95 to .97 (Shapiro &
Kratochwill, 2002).

ADHD-SRS
Psychometric
Properties

nterrater reliability between

teachers and parents is quite low
but in the expected range
(Shapiro and Kratochwill, 2002).
xcellent convergent validity
meaning that the validity of the
ADHD-SRS is comparable to
other ADHD rating scales.
he ADHD-SRS had a high
construct validity demonstrated
by the differences in scores
between children with ADHD and
those without ADHD (Shapiro &
Kratochwill, 2002).

Personal Critique
of Conners 3 and
ADHD-SRS

oth are easy to administer and

score.
oth written in an approximately a
grade five reading level.
oth have comparable psychometrics
with good reliability and validity.
he Conners 3 comes in a long and
short form versions with different
ratings scales for three informants.
DHD-SRS has one rating scale that is
given to all informants.

Personal Critique
of Conners 3 and
ADHD-SRS

he Conners 3 has questions that

aide in differential diagnosis and
comorbidity while the ADHD-SRS
assesses only ADHD symptoms.
tudy conducted by Benn Vitiello of
the National Institute of Mental
health found that from a sample of
600 children who were initially
diagnosed with ADHD were
misdiagnosed Fields (2012).
he American Academy of Pediatrics
now recommends that clinicians
who evaluate children for ADHD
should also look for conditions that
commonly co-exist with the
disorder (Fields, 2012, para. 5).

Conclusion

ating scales alone are not enough to give

a diagnosis of ADHD.
ull medical and physical examination
including tests for vision, hearing,
allergies, eczema, and epilepsy.
ule out that the child does not have
another mood disorder, sleep disorder, or
anxiety (Oberne, 2006).
btain detailed descriptions of the childs
behaviour from teachers and parents.
valuation of the childs academic
performance is needed; a child with ADHD
would show problems with academic
performance (Oberne, 2006).

References

ADD ADHD Information Library. (2012, February 13). Psychological

testing for ADHD. Retrieved from
http://newideas.net/adhd/psychological-testing-adhd
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Desk reference to the
diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR. Amer Psychiatric Pub Inc.
Arffa, S. (2012). Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print
[Review of The Conners 3rd Edition].
Booth, Jack H. "Conners' Rating Scales-Revised." Gale Encyclopedia of
Mental Disorders. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 2 Jun. 2012
<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Canadian ADHD practice guidelines. (2010). In D. M. Weiss & D. A.
Vincent (Eds.), (3 ed.). Toronto ON: Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance.
Conners, C. K. Conners 3rd Edition: Multi-Health Systems, Inc., P.O. Box
950, North Tonawanda, NY 14120-0950; Telephone: 416-492-2627 or
800-456-3003; FAX: 416-492-3343 or 888-540-4484; E-mail:
CUSTOMERSERVICE@MHS.COM; Web: www.mhs.com.

Frick, P. J., Barry, C. T., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2011). Clinical assessment of

child and adolescent personality and behavior. New York: Springer
Verlag.
Jones, K. M. (2012). Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print
[Review of the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale].
Kao, S., & Thomas, H. M. (2008). Test review: C. keith conners 3rd edition
toronoto, ontario, canada. Journal of Psychoeducational Asessment,
Retrieved from http://jpa.sagepub.com/content/28/6/598.full.pdf
Kendall, T., Eric, T., & Taylor, T. (2008). Retrieved from National
Collaborating Centre for Mental Health website:
http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG72FullGuideline.pdf
Measure profile: Adhd symptoms rating scale. (2012, May 31). Retrieved
from http://www.excellenceforchildandyouth.ca/about-learningorganizations/measure-profile?id=47
Oberne, S. (2006). Are you sure..it's adhd?. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse,
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Office of mental health. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/ebt/resources/snap_instructions.html

Par: Creating connections changing lives. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www4.parinc.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=ADHDSRS
Shapiro, E. S., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2002). Conducting school-based
assessments of child and adolescent behavior. New York, NY: The
Guilford Press.
Verhulst, F., & van der Ende, J. (2006). Assessment scales in child
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