The Use of Rating Scales in Preschool ADHD

Over the past 20 years, ADHD has been shown to be prevalent in preschool years, with validated symptoms that can be distinguished from other typically developing symptoms. Because of the varied and often confusing clinical presentation, when diagnosing ADHD in the younger years, it is very important to have accurate measures of children`s behavior that can help distinguish preschool ADHD from other developmental and psychiatric disorders. This will also help define the child`s problem so that adequate and proven interventions can be begun at an early age, which have been shown to improve the long-term outcome of these children. (1)

We present a group of rating scales most frequently used in this age group, that have been proven valid in helping with diagnosing and separating the true ADHD symptomatology from symptoms of other comorbid or similar conditions, and give some examples from clinical cases to highlight the utility of these scales.

Among the scale we will discuss are the ADHD Rating Scale IV(2) , The Vanderbilt ADHD Teacher and Parent Rating Scales(3), Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales(4), Conners Early Childhood Behavior assessment scales, The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function -Preschool Version (BRIEF-P),(5) and the Child Behavior Check List (Achenbach, PBCL 1.5 -5)(6). We will present the salient features of the scales, their validity in preschool children, and under what circumstances each scale will best serve the clinician evaluating these children.