Jm. Halperin et al., DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(5), 1993, pp. 1038-1043
Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the discrim
inant validity of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rela
tive to well-defined groups of children with other psychiatric disorde
rs. Method: Clinic-referred patients diagnosed as having ADHD without
any other comorbid diagnosis (N = 13), were compared with patients wit
h only anxiety disorders (N = 20), disruptive disorders other than ADH
D (N = 15), and nonreferred controls (N = 18) on measures of cognitive
and academic functioning, as well as on objective measures of attenti
on, impulse control, and activity level. Results: All three patient gr
oups were found to have cognitive and academic achievement difficultie
s relative to controls. However, the ADHD group was found to be inatte
ntive and impulsive relative to the other patient groups and the nonre
ferred controls. Objective measurement of activity level distinguished
the ADHD group from controls but not from the other two patient group
s. Conclusions: These data support the diagnostic validity of a small
subgroup of ADHD children (i.e., those without comorbid diagnoses) and
demonstrates, that as a group, these children can be distinguished fr
om patients with anxiety as well as other disruptive disorders on obje
ctive test measures.