Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale Infrequency Index Validation and Pilot Comparison of Administration Formats

Author Info

Jordan P. Harp Brittany D. Walls David T. R. Berry Elizabeth Wallace Frederick A. Schmitt Kullen C. Balthrop Lisa M. Koehl Natasha E. Garcia-Willingham Stacey L. Brothers Tia N. Borger

Corresponding Author

Elizabeth Wallace
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky

A B S T R A C T

One major obstacle to the accurate diagnosis of ADHD in college students is malingering, although many symptom self-report measures used in the diagnostic process do not contain validity scales to identify feigners. The Infrequency Index (CII) for the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale–Self-Report: Long Version (CAARS-S: L) was developed in response to this concern, although further validation of this index is needed. Another topic of interest in ADHD malingering research is the increasing use of online assessments. However, little is known about how ADHD is malingered in an online format, particularly on the CAARS-S: L. The current study utilized a coached simulation design to examine the feigning detection accuracy of the CII and provide initial results on the effect of administration format (paper vs. online) on CAARS-S: L profiles. Data from 139 students were analyzed. Students with ADHD and students instructed to feign the disorder produced statistically comparable elevations on seven of eight CAARS-S: L clinical scales. Clinical scale elevations were generally comparable between paper and online forms, although some differences in the clinical and simulated ADHD groups suggest the need for further research. The CII demonstrated modest sensitivity (0.36) and adequate specificity (0.85) at the recommended cut score across administration formats. Specificity reached desirable levels (>= .90) at a raised cut score. These values were similar across administration formats. Results support the use of the CII and online CAARS-S: L form

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Wed 08, Jan 2020
Accepted: Sat 25, Jan 2020
Published: Sat 01, Feb 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Elizabeth Wallace. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.PDR.2020.01.02