Measurement invariance of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder symptom criteria as rated by parents and teachers in children and adolescents: A systematic review.

This systematic review aimed to establish the extent to which each Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptom criterion is being assessed without being influenced (biased) by factors such as informant, sex/gender, and age. Measurement invariance (MI) testing using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is the prime statistical method to ascertain how these factors may affect the measurement and colour the perception or interpretation of symptom criteria. Such effects (non-invariance) can be operationalised in the form of altered association of a symptom criterion with the measured trait (expressed via variations in CFA loadings which represent the weight of each symptom criterion) due to the factor(s) and/or artificially alter the probability of endorsement of a particular symptom criterion (expressed via variations in the CFA threshold(s) representing how mild or severe a given symptom is).

Differential utility of teacher and parent-teacher combined information in the assessment of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms.

Background: Consistent research findings indicate that parents and teachers observe genuinely different Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behaviours in their respective settings.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of information provided by teacher informant assessments (INFAs) of ADHD symptoms, and the implications of aggregation algorithms in combing parents' information, i.e.

Is the endorsement of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptom criteria ratings influenced by informant assessment, gender, age, and co-occurring disorders? A measurement invariance study.

Objectives: This study aims to ascertain whether the differences of prevalence and severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are true or whether children are perceived and rated differently by parent and teacher informant assessments (INFAs) according to gender, age, and co-occurring disorders, even at equal levels of latent ADHD traits.

Methods: Use of latent trait models (for binary responses) to evaluate measurement invariance in children with ADHD and their siblings from the International Multicenter ADHD Gene data.

Results: Substantial measurement noninvariance between parent and teacher INFAs was detected for seven out of nine inattention (IA) and six out of nine hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) items; the correlations between parent and teacher INFAs for six IA and four HI items were not significantly different from zero, which suggests that parent and teacher INFAs are essentially rating different kinds of behaviours expressed in different settings, instead of measurement bias.

Are all the 18 DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria equally useful for diagnosing ADHD and predicting comorbid conduct problems?

In view of ICD-11 revision, we evaluate whether the 18 DSM-IV diagnostic items retained by DSM-5 could be further improved (i) in predicting ADHD 'caseness' and 'impairment' and (ii) discriminating ADHD without CD (ADHD - CD) cases from ADHD with CD (ADHD + CD) cases. In a multi-centre study sample consisting of 1497 ADHD probands and 291 unaffected subjects, 18 diagnostic items were examined for redundancy; then each item was evaluated for association with caseness, impairment and CD status using Classical Test Theory, Item-Response Theory and logistic regression methods. First, all 18 DSM-IV items contributed significantly and independently to the clinical diagnosis of ADHD.

Themes of delusions and hallucinations in first-episode psychosis.

Aim: The study aims to examine the themes of delusions and hallucinations in a cohort of adolescent and young adult patients (aged 15-26 years) presenting with a first episode of psychosis.

Methods: Information was collected retrospectively from 143 randomly selected medical files, using a questionnaire.

Results: Over 70% of patients were found to have either delusions or hallucinations at initial presentation.