Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess adaptive functioning in school for students with ADHD

Abstract

<p>Adaptive functioning skills are essential for individuals to effectively cope with day-to-day situations. Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often face challenges in school, where adequate adaptive functioning is required. However, there is currently a lack of measures specifically designed to assess adaptive functioning in school for this group of students. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new questionnaire, the Adaptive Functioning in School Questionnaire (AFSQ), to evaluate the adaptive functioning of students with ADHD in the school setting. A total of 564 students with ADHD between 6 to 12 years of age in Hong Kong participated in the study. The exploratory factor analysis (n = 282) led to the identification of a five-factor structure for the questionnaire, comprising 42 items. The confirmatory factor analysis conducted on the remaining half of the sample (n = 282) demonstrated a good fit of the five-factor model. The five factors in the AFSQ were identified and labeled as follows: <em>“social behavior management”, “task monitoring and completion”, “planning and organization”, “emotion comprehension and expression”, and “emotion regulation and conflict resolution”</em>. Moreover, the AFSQ showed excellent internal consistencies for all five factors (Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .83 to .96). The concurrent validity of the questionnaire was supported by significant and strong correlations between measures of ADHD symptoms, executive function, and socio-emotional skills and the corresponding domains of the AFSQ. These results highlight the robust psychometric properties of the AFSQ, addressing a gap in the existing assessment tools for adaptive functioning among students with ADHD in the school context. The newly developed AFSQ can serve as a valuable tool for researchers, clinicians, and educators to assess the specific difficulties and needs of students with ADHD in the school environment and guide targeted planning of intervention and supportive strategies for this group.</p>