The Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) scale includes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. This study examined only the ADHD items of the DBD scale. This scale is frequently used for assessing parent- and teacher-reported ADHD symptoms. Although some research on teacher report exists, little is known about the factor structure of parent-reported ADHD for this scale, particularly for early adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the fit of a priori specified, theoretically based models of ADHD. Participants were 250 parents of early adolescents (M = 12 years, SD = 1.53), who completed the ADHD items of the DBD scale. A two-factor model of hyperactivity/ impulsivity and inattention provided the best fit to item responses, but localized areas of misfit were present. Alternate wording for a few items was proposed. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author .
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., revised). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., Text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
Bandalos, D.L., & Finney, S.J. ( 2001). The use of item parceling in structure equation models . In G. Marcoulides & R. Schumacker (Eds.), Advanced structure equation modeling: Issues and techniques (pp. 269-296), Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
5.
Barkley, R.A., Murphy, K., & Fischer, M. ( 2008). ADHD in adults: What the science says. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
6.
Biederman, J., Mick, E., & Faraone, S. ( 2000). Age-dependent decline of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Impact of remission definition and symptom type. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 816-818.
7.
Benson, J., & Nasser, F. ( 1998). On the use of factor analysis as a research tool. Journal of Vocational Educational Research, 23, 13-33.
8.
Bentler, P.M., & Wu, E.J. ( 2003). EQS for windows user’s guide. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.
9.
Burns, G., Boe, B., Walsh, J., Sommers-Flanagan, R., & Teegarden, L. ( 2001). A confirmatory factor analysis on the DSM-IV ADHD and ODD symptoms: What is the best model for the organization of these symptoms ? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 339-349.
10.
Burns, G., de Moura, M., Walsh, J., Desmul, C., Silpakit, C., & Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2008). Invariance and convergent and discriminant validity between mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of ODD toward adults, ADHD-HI, ADHD-IN, and academic competence factors within Brazilian, Thai, and American children. Psychological Assessment , 20, 121-130.
11.
Caterino, L., Gómez-Benito, J., Balluerka, N., Amador-Campos, J., & Stock, W. ( 2009). Development and validation of a scale to assess the symptoms of ADHD in young adults. Psychological Assessment, 21, 152-161.
12.
Chen, F., West, S.G., & Sousa, K. ( 2006). A comparison of bifactor and second-order models of quality of life. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 41, 189-225.
13.
Chou, C., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1995). Estimates and tests in structure equation modeling. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structure equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 37-55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
Darling, N., Cumsille, P., Caldwell, L., & Dowdy, B. ( 2006). Predictors of adolescents’ disclosure and perceived parental knowledge: Between- and within-person differences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 667-678.
15.
DuPaul, G., Power, T., Anastopoulos, A., & Reid, R. ( 1998). ADHD rating scale: Checklists, norms, and clinical interpretation . New York, NY: Guilford Press.
16.
Evans, S.W., Allen, J., Moore, S., & Strauss, V. ( 2005). Measuring symptoms and functioning of youth with ADHD in middle schools. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 695-706.
17.
Finney, S.J., & DiStefano, C. ( 2006). Non-normal and categorical data in structure equation modeling. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Mueller (Eds.), Structure equation modeling: A second course (pp. 269-314). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
18.
Fischer, M., Barkley, R.A., Fletcher, K., & Smallish, L. ( 1993). The stability of dimensions of behavior in ADHD and normal children over an 8 year period. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 315-337.
19.
Glutting, J., Youngstrom, E., & Watkins, M. ( 2005). ADHD and college students: Exploratory and confirmatory factor structures with student and parent data. Psychological Assessment, 17, 44-55.
20.
Gomez, R. ( 2010). Equivalency for father and mother ratings of the ADHD symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 303-314.
21.
Gomez, R., Harvey, J., Quick, C., Scharer, I., & Harris, G. ( 1999). DSM-IV AD/HD: Confirmatory factor models, prevalence, and gender and age differences based on parent and teacher ratings of Australian primary school children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 40, 265-274.
22.
Hartung, C., McCarthy, D., Milich, R., & Martin, C. ( 2005). Parent-adolescent agreement on disruptive behavior symptoms: A multitrait-multimethod model. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 27, 159-168.
23.
Henson, R.K., & Roberts, J.K. ( 2006). Use of exploratory factor analysis in published research: Common errors and some comment on improved practice. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 393-416.
24.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
25.
Jöreskog, K., & Sörbom, D. (2005). LISREL 8.72: Structure equation modeling with the SIM-PLIS command language. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International .
26.
Langberg, J., Epstein, J., Altaye, M., Molina, B., Arnold, L. & Vietiello, B. ( 2008). The transition to middle school is associated with changes in the developmental trajectory of ADHD symptomatology in young adolescents with ADHD. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 37, 651-663.
27.
Larson, R., & Richards, M. ( 1991). Daily companionship in late childhood and early adolescence: Changing developmental contexts. Child Development, 62, 284-300.
28.
MacCallum, R., Roznowski, M., & Necowitz, L. ( 1992). Model modifications in covariance structure analysis: The problem of capitalization on chance. Psychological Bulletin , 111, 490-504.
Pelham, W.E., & Bender, M. ( 1982). Peer relationships in hyperactive children. In K. Gadow & I. Bailor (Eds.), Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities (pp. 365-436). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
31.
Pelham, W.E., Jr., Gnagy, E., Greenslade, K., & Milich, R. ( 1992). Teacher ratings of DSM-III-R symptoms for the disruptive behavior disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 210-218.
32.
Phares, V., Lopez, E., Fields, S., Kamboukos, D., & Duhig, A. ( 2005). Are fathers involved in pediatric psychology research and treatment? Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30, 631-643.
33.
Pillow, D., Pelham, W.E., Hoza, B., Molina, B., & Stultz, C. ( 1998). Confirmatory factor analyses examining ADHD symptoms and other childhood disruptive behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 293-309.
34.
Podolski, C., & Nigg, J. ( 2000). Parent stress and coping in relation to child ADHD severity and associated child disruptive behavior problems. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 503-513.
35.
Preacher, K.J., & MacCallum, R.C. (2003). Repairing Tom Swift’s electric factor analysis machine. Understanding Statistics , 2, 13-32.
36.
Raykov, T., & Marcoulides, G.A. (2000). A first course in structure equation modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
37.
Reid, R., DuPaul, G., Power, T., Anastopoulos, A., Rogers-Adkinson, D., Noll, M., & Riccio, C. ( 1998). Assessing culturally different students for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using behavior rating scales. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 187-198.
38.
Reuterberg, S., & Gustafsson, J. (1992). Confirmatory factor analysis and reliability: Testing measurement model assumptions. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 795-811.
39.
Satorra, A., & Bentler, P.M. ( 2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66, 507-541.
40.
Span, S., Earleywine, M., & Strybel, T. ( 2002). Confirming the factor structure of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adult, nonclinical samples. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 24, 129-136.
41.
Thompson, B. ( 1997). The importance of structure coefficients in structure equation modeling confirmatory factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 57, 5-19.
42.
Thompson, B., & Daniel, L. ( 1996). Factor analytic evidence for the construct validity of scores: A historical overview and some guidelines. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56, 197-208.
43.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). 2005-2007 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates. Washington, DC: Government Printing Press.
44.
Waschbusch, D., Pelham, W.E., Jennings, J., Greiner, A., Tarter, R., & Moss, H. ( 2002). Reactive aggression in boys with disruptive behavior disorders: Behavior, physiology, and affect. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 641-656.
45.
West, S.G., Finch, J., & Curran, P.J. ( 1995). Structure equation models with non-normal variables: Problems and remedies. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.) Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 56-75). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
46.
Willoughby, M. ( 2003). Developmental course of ADHD symptomatology during the transition from childhood to adolescence: A review with recommendations. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 88-106.
47.
Yu, C., & Muthén, B. (2002, April). Evaluation of model fit indices for latent variable models with categorical and continuous outcomes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
48.
Zentall, S. ( 1980). Behavioral comparisons of hyperactivity and control children in natural settings. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 8, 93-100.
49.
Zuddas, A., Marzocchi, G., Oosterlaan, J., Cavolina, P., Ancilletta, B., & Sergeant, J. ( 2006). Factor structure and cultural factors of disruptive behavior disorders symptoms in Italian children. European Psychiatry , 21, 410-418.
