Adult ADHD Self Report Scale ASRS v1.1
Adult ADHD Self Report Scale ASRS v1.1 overview
Creator and Context
The Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS v1.1) was developed by a World Health Organization workgroup, with Lenard Adler, Ronald Kessler and Thomas Spencer, and published in 2005.
It has two parts. The full Symptom Checklist has 18 items mapped to the DSM-IV ADHD criteria and reworded for adult presentations. The six question screener, drawn from Part A, is the subset that best predicts ADHD and is the version most people mean when they say ASRS.
Presenting Conditions
The 18 items map to the two DSM ADHD symptom domains:
Inattention, including difficulty finishing tasks, organising and sustaining attention
Hyperactivity and impulsivity, including restlessness, fidgeting and interrupting
The six question screener mixes both, with four inattention and executive function items and two motor restlessness items.
Administration
Self administered, on paper or electronically. The person rates how they have felt and conducted themselves over the past 6 months on a 5 point scale: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Very Often. The checklist takes about 5 minutes.
Desired Audience
Adults aged 18 and over. Calibration comes from the US general population, so a local clinical calibration is advisable elsewhere.
The ASRS is a triage instrument for adult ADHD, a presentation that is routinely missed in adults who were never assessed as children. It is short enough to run at intake and specific enough that a positive screen genuinely justifies a full diagnostic assessment.
Considerations
It is a screening scale, not a diagnostic test. Diagnostic assessment by a trained clinician is needed after a positive screen.
Sensitivity of the screener is around 69 percent, so roughly one in three true cases is missed.
The items are DSM-IV based.
Licensing differs by version. The six question screener is free to use and does not require formal permission, provided it is not altered and the copyright notice is retained. The 18 question checklist requires a licence from NYU.
Harvard now recommends the 0 to 24 sum scoring method over the original shaded box count. Do not present the four checkmark rule as the only current rule.
How to score the Adult ADHD Self Report Scale ASRS v1.1
Conducting the assessment
The person rates six screener items, or all 18 items on the full checklist, on the frequency scale for the past 6 months.
Interpretation
Two scoring methods are published for the six question screener.
The original method counts checkmarks that fall in the darkly shaded boxes, giving a score of 0 to 6. Four or more checkmarks indicate that symptoms may be consistent with adult ADHD.
The 2024 scoring update, which Harvard describes as more robust, scores Never as 0 through to Very Often as 4, giving 0 to 24. On that scale:
0 to 9 is a low negative screen
10 to 13 is a high negative screen
14 to 17 is a low positive screen
18 to 24 is a high positive screen
A score of 14 or above is a positive screen.
Clinical Considerations
Treat a positive screen as the start of an assessment, not the end of one.
Corroborate with developmental history. Adult ADHD requires evidence of childhood onset, which the ASRS does not capture. Pair it with a retrospective measure such as the WURS-25.
Screen for the conditions that mimic ADHD, particularly anxiety, depression, trauma and substance use.
Adult ADHD Self Report Scale ASRS v1.1 use cases
Screening adults for ADHD at intake
Identifying who needs a full diagnostic assessment
Symptom monitoring alongside a diagnostic assessment
Population and health services research
Category
ADHD
Research Summary
Kessler, R. C., Adler, L., Ames, M., et al. (2005). The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS): A short screening scale for use in the general population. Psychological Medicine, 35(2), 245 to 256.
Kessler, R. C., Adler, L. A., Gruber, M. J., Sarawate, C. A., Spencer, T., & Van Brunt, D. L. (2007). Validity of the WHO Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS) Screener in a representative sample of health plan members. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16(2), 52 to 65.
Other Assessment Guides
Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale VADRS
A guide to the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale (VADRS), parent and teacher versions. Covers symptom and performance scoring, the DSM-5 aligned criteria and comorbidity screening.
SNAP-IV Teacher and Parent Rating Scale
A guide to the SNAP-IV parent and teacher rating scale for ADHD and oppositional symptoms. Covers average rating per item scoring, the rater specific cut offs and version differences.
Wender Utah Rating Scale WURS-25
A guide to the WURS-25, the retrospective self report of childhood ADHD symptoms in adults. Covers scoring, the difference between the 36 and 46 cut offs, and why it must be paired with a current symptom measure.
Note on Assessment licensing
Some assessments are copyright protected and require a licence or the copyright holder's permission for clinical, commercial or digital use. Where that applies, obtaining and maintaining that permission is the responsibility of the practice or organisation using the assessment. Tacklit provides the digital administration, scoring and reporting. We do not grant, transfer or supply rights to the underlying instrument.
