Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, a neurological disorder that affects behavior, cognition and attention, afflicts between 2 to 7 percent of adults according to Wrong Diagnosis. Adults with ADHD have great difficulty maintaining attention, and struggle to complete everyday tasks that others handle with ease. They have difficulty paying attention, particularly when the task is sedentary, long or boring. They are highly distractible, easily bored and can be inclined to act impulsively. These neurological, cognitive and behavioral symptoms of ADHD can cause serious problems with education, work and family life.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of ADHD in adults usually involves identifying ADHD symptoms while ruling out other possible conditions.
Varied problems can present as ADHD including psychiatric problems like anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and depression; learning disabilities; and medical issues including allergies, food and addictive insensitivities, metabolic, cardiac, endocrine, sleep and nutritional problems. These issues should be evaluated by a qualified medical practitioner.
Typically, physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists work together to provide a definitive diagnosis. ADHD testing can play a critical role in the diagnostic process.
Online Tests
Adults who feel they may have ADHD can begin the diagnostic testing process by using online tests. Various websites have online questionnaires or ratings scales that allow you to rate the presence or severity of ADHD symptoms.
Questions typically assess inattention, attentional capacity, hyperactivity, impulsivity, problems planning, organizing or completing activities, as well as mood swings, temper problems and racing thoughts.
Examples of online ADHD tests for adults are at Psych Central and New York University. These tests are not statistically standardized using clinical and nonclinical samples, and usually do not have norms. Results of these tests should not be viewed as definitive, but they can help determine if you should seek further consultation from a doctor or psychologist regarding your ADHD symptoms.
Paper and Pencil Tests
Several written ADHD tests are available for adults. The Young Adult Self-Report, a questionnaire developed by Thomas Achenbach for ages 18 to 30, assesses the presence of various problems including thought and attention problems consistent with a diagnosis of adult ADHD.
The most commonly used self-report questionnaires for assessing ADHD in adults are the Copeland Symptom Checklist for Adult ADHD, the Brown Adult Attention Deficit Scale, and the Wender Utah Rating Scale, according to American Family Physician. Achenbach’s Young Adult Self-Report and the Copeland Symptom Checklist are more comprehensive and provide subscales that can help identify issues that may contribute to ADHD symptoms.
Continuous Performance Tests
The tests described so far require the respondent to self-rate ADHD symptoms. These tests involve self-perceptions, so they may be influenced by distortions and bias.
The most sophisticated and objective ADHD tests are based on actual continuous performance of standardized tasks. These tests, typically administered by psychologists or neurologists, provide objective, direct assessment of the cognitive and neurological processes that underlie ADHD.
The Test of Variables of Attention, or TOVA, requires the adult to participate in a computerized vigilance task. It produces scores that measure varied aspects of the attention process including impulsivity, inattention, response time latency, and inconsistency in attention.
Working Memory
Another class of adult ADHD tests evaluates attentional capacity or working memory. People with ADHD have problems in retaining information in their so-called “working” short-term memory.
Tests such as the Attentional Capacity Test require the respondent to retain specific information in short-term memory while ignoring distractions. These performance tests do not rely on self reports of symptoms, but rather directly measure the attentional processes.
The tests can also be administered under medicated and non-medicated conditions to help evaluate the efficacy of medications.
