DIAGNOSING ADHD (PREDOMINANTLY INATTENTIVE AND COMBINED TYPE SUBTYPES) - DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF THE BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR CHILDREN AND THE ACHENBACH PARENT AND TEACHER RATING-SCALES

Compared the effectiveness of discriminating attention deficit/hyperac tivity disorder (ADHD) subtypes using the Parent Rating Scale (PRS) an d Teacher Rating Scale (TRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Chi ldren (BASC) and the Parent Report Form and Teacher Report Form (TRF) of the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). To determine the ext ent to which these scales measured similar behaviors, Pearson Product- Moment Correlations were computed for the parent scales (PRS and CBCL) and for the teacher scales (TRS and TRF). Results indicated that corr elations were significant for a number of scales. Discriminant analysi s does not suggest a strong advantage of either measure in differentia ting children with ADHD from those who do not meet criteria for ADHD, except for the BASC TRS which has better predictive ability for childr en who do not meet ADHD criteria. For subtypes of ADHD, and specifical ly the ADHD: Predominantly Inattentive subtype, however, results would favor the use of the BASC PRS and TRS.