The Development of a ADHD Symptoms Scale in Young Adults

OBJECTIVE: To find out ADHD symptoms in a sample of young adults. To develop ADHD symptoms in a sample of young adults METHODOLOGY: A mixed -methods design was used. The study was carried out from July 2019 to February 2020 in series of phases. In phase I, 20 university students of BS Hon (11 women, 9 men) age range 18-24 were interviewed and a list of 77 items for scale was finalized. In phase II, Content Validity Index (CVI) was established and 54 items for the scale were retained and further piloted study on 20 university students of BS Hon (10 Men 10 women) through purposive sampling from 2 private and 2 government universities of Lahore in Phase III. University students of M.A/ MSc, MS, and other programs were excluded from the study. Finally, in Phase IV, a final list of 54 items for the scale (Attention Deficits Hyperactive Symptoms Scale), Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (AASR-VI. I), and Student Problems Checklist (SPCL)was given to the sample of 727 university students of BS Hon (293 (40%) men and 434 (60 %) women) with the age range of 18-24 years (M= 19.86, SD= 1.51). After collecting all data SPSS 21 version and AMOS 21 version was used for analyzing the data. RESULTS: Exploratory Factor Analysis produced 3 factors which were confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis inattention, hyperactivity, and proactive. The scale was found high internal consistency cr=.84, split -half reliability t=.84, and test -retest reliability t=.84, concurrent validity, and construct validity. CONCLUSION: ADHSS found cultural specific with high psychometric properties and useful for identifying the symptom of ADHD.