Affiliation:
1. The University of Edinburgh, UK
2. University of Zurich, Switzerland
3. University of Cambridge, UK
Abstract
To illuminate individual differences in the development of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in the general population, psychometric measures are needed that can capture general population-level symptom variation reliably, validly, and comparably from childhood through to the transition to adulthood. The ADHD subscale of the Social Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ-ADHD) provides a candidate for a measure that can meet this need. We thus evaluate the psychometric properties of the SBQ-ADHD as administered in adulthood (ages 20 and 24) to a large normative sample, as well as the cross-informant (parent-teacher-self-reports) and developmental (ages 7–24) measurement invariance of a core SBQ-ADHD item set. Results support score internal consistency reliability, gender measurement invariance, and criterion validity. Scores from the core item set showed some evidence of non-invariance, providing insights into how ADHD symptoms may manifest and/or be perceived differently by different informants/in different contexts and at different ages. Our findings overall support the use of the SBQ-ADHD items for developmental studies of ADHD symptoms from childhood to adulthood.
Funder
Swiss Federal Office of Public Health
Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development
Swiss Federal Commission on Migration
Medical Research Foundation
Canton of Zurich’s Department of Education
Swiss National Science Foundation
Jacobs Foundation