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Scientific background: ASRS (Adult ADHD)

About this test

The ASRS was developed in 2005 by a WHO working group together with Ronald C. Kessler (Harvard Medical School) and colleagues, and is one of the most widely used screening instruments internationally for adult ADHD. The full version has 18 items; the six items used here ("Part A") were identified in the original study as the most statistically informative of all 18, and are validated as a standalone brief screener. Importantly: this questionnaire checks for current symptoms, but doesn't replace the evidence, required for an ADHD diagnosis, that similar difficulties were already present in childhood.

Dimensions

ADHD Screener (Part A)

Number of items where your answer counts as elevated per the official scoring key (0–6). For the first three items, "Sometimes" or higher already counts; for the last three items, only "Often" or "Very Often" counts -- exactly the WHO's original scoring pattern.

Sources & license

  • Kessler, R. C., Adler, L., Ames, M., Demler, O., Faraone, S., Hiripi, E., Howes, M. J., Jin, R., Secnik, K., Spencer, T., Ustun, T. B., & Walters, E. E. (2005). The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): A short screening scale for use in the general population. Psychological Medicine, 35(2), 245–256.

    ASRS-v1.1 Screener © 2003 World Health Organization (WHO). The 6-question short version ("Part A") is widely distributed by WHO for individual self-screening use with a WHO copyright notice, as reflected here; the full 18-question checklist requires separate permission and was deliberately not implemented, matching the German site. Item wording, response-scale anchors, and the official scoring pattern were verified verbatim against the official WHO/CADDRA-hosted ASRS-v1.1 form.

    https://www.caddra.ca/wp-content/uploads/ASRS.pdf
This questionnaire is for self-assessment only and does not replace a medical or psychotherapeutic ADHD evaluation. An ADHD diagnosis always requires a thorough professional evaluation, including a look at childhood history. If your result is elevated, talk to a doctor, a psychiatrist, or a licensed therapist.
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