Age and Education Effects in the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder, Residual Type in an Alcoholic Population

Two self-report measures that have been used to screen an alcoholic population for Attention Deficit Disorder, Residual Type (ADD-RT) are the Childhood Symptom Checklist and a listing of the DSM-III criteria. Both measures have evidence supporting their validity as screening instruments for ADD-RT in alcoholics. This study further explores the properties of these instruments by determining whether the age or educational level of alcoholic patients relates to their performance on these measures. No differences were found between the scores of younger and older patients. However, alcoholic patients with more education had fewer DSM-III symptoms of ADD-RT, but did not have fewer symptoms on the Childhood Symptom Checklist. The difference in performance on these two previously consistent measures is noted. Future research might explore the possibility that the DSM-III symptoms of ADD-RT are more sensitive to functional deficits in adults than the Childhood Symptoms Checklist, which asks for symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder as a child.