Agreement Rates Between Parent and Self-Report on Past ADHD Symptoms in an Adult Clinical Sample

OBJECTIVE: To investigate agreement rates between parent and self-report on childhood symptoms of ADHD. METHOD: Sixty-eight self-referred treatment-naïve adults (33 men, 35 women) were interviewed with a modified version of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Epidemiological Version (K-SADS-E) and asked about past ADHD symptoms, using modified Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition; DSM-IV) criteria (at least six symptoms in either domain for present and past symptoms). Parents were given a questionnaire with DSM-IV symptoms list. RESULTS: Forty-six patients (67.6%) agreed on the presence of past ADHD diagnosis with their parents; there was agreement on subtype in more than half of cases (58.7%). Fifty patients (73.5%) reported positive past inattention symptomatology, and 31 of them (62.0%) agreed with their parents on their presence in childhood. Thirty-six patients (52.9%) reported positive hyperactivity-impulsivity symptomatology, and 20 of them (55.6%) agreed with their parents' reports. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest retrospective information provided by adults with ADHD has moderate agreement rates with parents' reports for both domains.