Reliability and validity of ADHD construct and factor structure with ODD for Korean elementary students

The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability and validity of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD construct and the factor structure in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) with a Korean population. ADHD related questionnaires were used for this study and 48 elementary school teachers noted their students' behaviors according to the questionnaires. A total of 1,672 children, 909 boys and 763 girls, from 8 elementary schools in the southeastern area of Korea participated. To investigate the reliability validity and factor structure of the ADHD rating scale based on the DSM-IV-TR, the followings were explored: 1) a tool by which to identify Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in the DSM-IV-TR, 2) a questionnaire about disciplinary and peer problems, and 3) the Korean Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Test (K-ADHDT). As a result, the reliability and validity of the diagnostic definition for ADHD construct in the DSM-IV-TR with Korean students were verified and a structure that combined ADHD with ODD produced the best fit to the data in both two- and three-factor structures; however, the three-factor structure is a better fit through the examinations in the research.