Cross-Cultural Adult ADHD Assessment in 42 Countries Using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Screener
Karol Lewczuk, Przemysław Marcowski, Magdalena Wizła, Mateusz Gola, Léna Nagy, Mónika Koós, Shane W. Kraus, Zsolt Demetrovics, Marc N. Potenza, Rafael Ballester‐Arnal, Dominik Batthyány, Sophie Bergeron, Joël Billieux, Peer Briken, Julius Burkauskas, Georgina Cárdenas‐López, Joana Carvalho, Jesús Castro‐Calvo, Lijun Chen, Giacomo Ciocca, Ornella Corazza, Rita I. Csákó, David P. Fernandez, Hironobu Fujiwara, Elaine F. Fernandez, Johannes Fuß, Roman Gabrhelík, Ateret Gewirtz‐Meydan, Biljana Gjoneska, Joshua B. Grubbs, Hashim Talib Hashim, Md. Saiful Islam, Mustafa Ismail, Martha C. Jiménez‐Martínez, Tanja Jurin, Ondrej Kalina, Verena Klein, András Költő, Sang‐Kyu Lee, Chung‐Ying Lin, Yi-Ching Lin, Christine Löchner, Silvia López‐Alvarado, Kateřina Lukavská, Percy Mayta‐Tristán, D.J. Miller, Oľga Orosová, Gábor Orosz, Fernando P. Ponce, Gonzalo R. Quintana, Gabriel C. Quintero Garzola, Jano Ramos‐Diaz, Kévin Rigaud, Ann Rousseau, Marco de Tubino Scanavino, Marion K. Schulmeyer, Pratap Sharan, Mami Shibata, Sheikh Shoib, Vera Sigre‐Leirós, Luke Sniewski, Ognen Spasovski, Vesta Steiblienė, Dan J. Stein, Berk C. Ünsal, Marie‐Pier Vaillancourt‐Morel, Marie Claire Van Hout, Beáta Bőthe
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We analyzed adult ADHD symptoms in a cross-cultural context, including investigating the occurrence and potential correlates of adult ADHD and psychometric examination of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener. METHOD: =12.57). RESULTS: The ASRS Screener demonstrated good reliability and validity, along with partial invariance across different languages, countries, and genders. The occurrence of being at risk for adult ADHD was relatively high (21.4% for women, 18.1% for men). The highest scores were obtained in the US, Canada, and other English-speaking Western countries, with significantly lower scores among East Asian and non-English-speaking European countries. Moreover, ADHD symptom severity and occurrence were especially high among gender-diverse individuals. Significant associations between adult ADHD symptoms and age, mental and sexual health, and socioeconomic status were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Present results show significant cross-cultural variability in adult ADHD occurrence as well as highlight important factors related to adult ADHD. Moreover, the importance of further research on adult ADHD in previously understudied populations (non-Western countries) and minority groups (gender-diverse individuals) is stressed. Lastly, the present analysis is consistent with previous evidence showing low specificity of adult ADHD screening instruments and contributes to the current discussion on accurate adult ADHD screening and diagnosis.