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. 1998 Jul;37(7):695-702.
doi: 10.1097/00004583-199807000-00008.

Validity of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder for younger children

B B Lahey  1 , W E Pelham, M A Stein, J Loney, C Trapani, K Nugent, H Kipp, E Schmidt, S Lee, M Cale, E Gold, C M Hartung, E Willcutt, B Baumann
Affiliations

Validity of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder for younger children

B B Lahey et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1998 Jul.

Erratum in

  • J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1999 Feb;38(2):222

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about the validity of the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children. Moreover, the results of the DSM-IV field trials raised concerns that inclusion of the new predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type of ADHD in DSM-IV might increase the likelihood of the diagnosis being given to active but unimpaired preschool and primary school children.

Method: The validity of DSM-IV criteria for each subtype of ADHD was evaluated in 126 children, aged 4 through 6 years, and 126 matched comparison children. Probands and controls were classified by using structured diagnostic interviews of the parent and a DSM-IV checklist completed by the teacher.

Results: Children who met DSM-IV criteria for each subtype of ADHD according to parent and teacher reports differed consistently from controls on a wide range of measures of social and academic impairment, even when other types of psychopathology and other potential confounds were controlled.

Conclusions: When diagnosed by means of a structured diagnostic protocol, all three DSM-IV subtypes of ADHD are valid for 4- through 6-year-old children in the sense of identifying children with lower mean scores on measures of adaptive functioning that are independently associated with ADHD.

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Comment in

  • Validity of DSM-IV ADHD.
    Lahey BB, Applegate B. Lahey BB, et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2001 May;40(5):502-4. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200105000-00003. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2001. PMID: 11349689 No abstract available.

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