Empirically Informed Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Evaluation With College Students

College Students With ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the second most endorsed disability among college populations today, totaling approximately 11%. ADHD causes significant problems in education and social and occupational functioning of college students as well as in their postcollege work environment. Although the literature is replete with information guiding service providers working with students in other areas, very few studies exists to help career counselors who work with college students with ADHD. This article attempts to fill the gap by highlighting (a) college and postcollege work implications of ADHD characteristics and (b) effective interventions that counselors can implement to buttress the career planning process and postcollege occupational success for students with ADHD.

Self-reported ADHD symptoms among college students: item positioning affects symptom endorsement rates

OBJECTIVE

The effect of manipulating item positioning on self-reported ADHD symptoms was examined. We assessed whether listing DSM-IV ADHD symptoms serially or interspersed affected (a) the correlation between ADHD symptoms and (b) the rate of symptom endorsement.

METHOD

In Study 1, an undergraduate sample (n = 102) completed a measure that listed DSM-IV ADHD symptoms serially and a measure that interspersed DSM-IV ADHD items among non-ADHD symptoms. In Study 2, a separate undergraduate sample (n = 240) completed a measure that listed DSM-IV ADHD symptoms serially and another ADHD measure that interspersed DSM-IV ADHD items among non-DSM-IV ADHD items.

RESULTS

Item positioning did not affect the correlation between symptoms, but did reveal a significant bias in the rate of symptom endorsements.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that there is significant variability in ADHD symptom endorsements resulting from item positioning. This effect has implications for clinical assessment and epidemiological research of ADHD among college students.

ADHD and method variance: a latent variable approach applied to a nationally representative sample of college freshmen

This study employed a correlated trait-correlated method application of confirmatory factor analysis to disentangle trait and method variance from measures of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder obtained at the college level. The two trait factors were Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV ) Inattention and DSM-IV Hyperactivity-Impulsivity. The two source factors were self-reports and parent-reports. Data were collected for an epidemiological sample (N = 1,079) of college freshmen stratified for race/ethnicity, gender, and ability level according to national targets for the U.S. college population. Results revealed (a) parents' ratings were better measures of internalizing behavioral dimensions and that students' ratings were better measures of externalizing dimensions of behavior, (b) informants have a greater impact on behavior ratings than the behavioral construct that is presumed to be the primary cause of the behavior as measured by the CARE, (c) relationships among the method factors revealed a substantial amount of unique variance among informants, and (d) relationships among trait factors were largely within expectation.