Refining the Assessment of ADHD: The Relationship Between Self-Report and Observable Behavioral Symptoms

Individuals with adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) present with deficits in attention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, or a combination of these symptoms. Functional impairment due to inattention, reduced motivation, poor impulse control, emotion dysregulation, and deficits in executive functioning are also frequently seen. Assessment of ADHD, using objective continuous performance tasks, has been introduced in conjunction with widely used self-report measures of ADHD symptom severity. The Conner’s Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) is one such self-report measure of ADHD, consisting of 66 self-report items that measure symptoms of ADHD, including inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and poor self-concept. The Quotient ADHD System purports to provide objective measures of ability to inhibit motor activity, maintain attention, and suppress impulsive responses. The Quotient ADHD System has been found to be sensitive to the pharmacologic effects of ADHD medication. Currently, there is a lack of empirical evidence for the Quotient ADHD System in an adult population, specifically, indicating a relationship between evaluations using the Quotient ADHD System and a widely accepted self-report measurement of ADHD, such as the CAARS. The present study determined that the global scaled score and motion scaled score metrics of the Quotient ADHD System correlate with the Hyperactive/Restlessness scale on the CAARS. Furthermore, the present study found a significant positive correlation between the Inattentive Metric of the Quotient ADHD System and the Inattention/Memory scale on the CAARS