Diagnosing ADHD in Israeli adults: the psychometric properties of the adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS) in Hebrew.

This paper argues for the importance of diagnosing ADHD in adults, while acknowledging the many attendant difficulties. The paper presents results from two studies implementing the Adult ADHD Self Report Screen (ASRS) in Hebrew. The Hebrew version of the ASRS as approved by the World Health Organization is appended to this paper. The first of the two studies used a paper and pencil version of the ASRS (ASRS_PP) and the second used a computer administered version (ASRS_C). A subset of the participants in the two studies was given both versions. The Hebrew ASRS had excellent test-retest reliability. It had good internal consistency in both forms. Support for the validity of the Hebrew ASRS is given by the significantly higher scores of adults with ADHD versus those without, on both versions of the ASRS and on all of its subscales. The sensitivity of the raw sum of all 18 items was significantly higher than that of the 6-item screen suggested by the authors of the ASRS. The sensitivity and specificity of the ASRS in Hebrew should be further examined in future studies including clinically referred participants. The benefit of using the ASRS as part of the diagnostic process for adult ADHD is discussed.