NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale – Parent Informant (ADHD)

This questionnaire is filled out by a parent about the child's behavior over the last 6 months. Alongside inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, it also covers three common co-occurring areas (oppositional behavior, conduct concerns, anxiety/depression) plus impairment in school, family, and social relationships. It's meant as a starting point for a conversation with a pediatrician -- not as a standalone diagnostic tool.

This questionnaire is meant as a starting point for a conversation with a pediatrician or a child and adolescent therapist -- on its own, it is not a diagnosis. The original scale is explicitly not recommended for diagnosis by itself; that always requires information from multiple sources (e.g. an additional rating from teachers). If scores are elevated -- especially in the oppositional behavior or conduct domains -- talk to a professional promptly.

Important for interpretation

In the original instrument, a symptom domain (e.g. inattention or hyperactivity) is only considered clinically significant if the Performance/Impairment domain is ALSO elevated -- meaning at least one performance item was rated "Somewhat of a Problem" or "Problematic." Symptom frequency alone isn't considered sufficient in the original procedure. So always look at the impairment domain together with the others before interpreting them.

55 statements · ~14 min