Symptom and Performance Validity Measures in the Clinical Assessment of Adult ADHD: What Do We Learn from Network...

First-time diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults can be challenging due to diverse methodologies available for assessment, and the choices clinicians need to make about how to interpret diagnostic criteria. Network analysis is a statistical approach that has received growing attention in clinical research of recent years. It has the potential to aid visualization and illustrate the intricate relationships between the wide range of clinical measures.

The goal of the present study is to examine the value of network analysis on a sample of N = 896 adults newly diagnosed with ADHD in an outpatient referral context.

The network depicts the interrelationship of a comprehensive set of measures and test variables, including symptom self- and other-reports, cognitive tests, motor activity, as well as measures of symptom and performance validity.

Our network analysis supports ADHD symptom clusters with distinct networks of motor activity and attention/impulsivity and reflects the mode of assessment, i.e., neuropsychological versus self- and observer-ratings. The network further depicts the dissociable role of symptom and performance validity measures, and the different nature of embedded and freestanding validity tests. We discuss the future application of network analysis in clinical research on ADHD.