DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis

DIVA is a semi-structured interview designed to improve ADHD assessments in adults. This study will evaluate the validity of the criterion used in DIVA 2.0 and its concurrent validity in comparison with Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) criteria.

Compared to the top 20 attributes, DIVA attributes that correlate strongest with diagnosis are attention deficit for both childhood and adulthood and hyperactivity/impulsivity for adults, followed by CAARS ADHD TT1 score and IOWA personality disorders evaluation.

Symptoms

ADD/ADHD symptoms affect all aspects of our lives, from relationships to career advancement, and the daily tasks we perform. That's why it is so crucial that our ADHD assessments take a holistic approach and look at how the symptoms impact all areas of life. In your assessment, Dr. Schilling will begin by obtaining details about your symptoms as well as health background. She will then conduct a DIVA 5 assessment. This is a semi-structured, interview which evaluates both the main symptoms and the impact of ADD/ADHD your life.

The DIVA is an interview tool developed by psychiatrists and psychotherapists to determine the signs of adult ADHD. It has been demonstrated to be extremely sensitive and specific. It is also highly efficient in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It can help raise awareness and help diagnose adult ADHD in Korea since it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic test available in the country.

A trained clinician, usually psychiatrists, will ask questions to determine the primary symptoms of ADHD. These include hyperactivity, inattention and an impulsive nature. The clinician will also analyze the background of the person as well as their childhood experiences as well as their impact on their present behavior. how to get an assessment for adhd of ADHD do not appear suddenly. They appear over a long period of time, from childhood to teen years and into adulthood.

The DIVA can be used to detect ADHD due to its consideration of both the DSM-IV ADHD criteria during childhood and into adulthood and how these signs have affected the person's daily functioning across five areas - education, employment relations with family/partners and leisure/social activities, as well as confidence in oneself. In comparison, other screening tools like the WURS-brief which was compared to CAADID which showed poor sensitiveness and negative predictive value.

Diagnosis

To determine the presence of ADHD in adults it is essential to evaluate the symptoms and their history. This can be accomplished through conducting a thorough interview about childhood symptoms as well as an assessment of the neurocognitive. It is essential to take into consideration the impact that the symptoms have on the person's work and daily life. This can be assessed by conducting a structured interview, the DIVA and, in some cases, getting information from family members and friends.


The DIVA interview is a semistructured interview originally designed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been re-edited to be used in other countries, including Korea. This study evaluated the criterion validity of the Korean version of DIVA (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample of adult patients with ADHD.

During the DIVA the doctor asks about the presence of ADHD symptoms in childhood and adulthood, as well as the age at which the symptoms first manifest, as well as the severity of impairment resulting from those symptoms. The clinician also collects a diverse set of sociodemographic data and inquires about any psychosis-related comorbidity.

Patients were screened for psychiatric comorbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0 as well as the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI), and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Two experienced psychiatrists utilized the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 to determine a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. They evaluated symptoms both in adulthood and childhood, and determined the duration of symptoms.

The sensitivity and specificity of DIVA-5 was found to be high for both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in childhood and adulthood. This diagnostic tool has good concurrent validity when compared with the WURS scale, and has fair validity when compared with three self-report ratings instruments that include the ASRS (self-report rating), FAB (self-report rating) and Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.

The sensitivity and specificity of the DIVA-5 was found to be high for all subtypes of ADHD in both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in adulthood and during childhood. The accuracy of the DIVA-5's diagnosis was found to be similar to that of a clinical diagnoses given by two psychiatrists. This was in agreement with the specificity and sensitivity of previous screening tools, such as the ASRS and the WURS.

Treatment

If you have an undiagnosed ADHD, it can significantly affect your life. This can affect your relationships, academic progress, and work. It can also impact the way you organize your daily life. A diagnosis can help you determine your strengths and weaknesses and also provide treatment options to alleviate your symptoms and provide coping mechanisms.

A trained clinician, usually psychologist or psychiatrist, will conduct a structured discussion with you regarding your current symptoms using the DIVA-5 assessment tool. This will involve asking standardised questions about your levels of hyperactivity, inattention and an impulsiveness. It will also dig into your personal history and childhood experiences to give you an accurate picture of your symptoms.

This is essential to ensure a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. It also helps us understand the root causes of your symptoms, which will help guide your treatment.

The DIVA assessment is a highly efficient method of diagnosing adults with ADHD and has excellent sensitivity and specificity. It has also been shown to have sound criterion validity, when compared to self-report scales for rating such as the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good consistency with these scales and good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.

The DIVA evaluation, in contrast to more traditional methods of testing ADHD in adulthood, focuses on identifying symptoms that manifest in childhood and into adulthood. This increases the accuracy of the diagnoses and allows for a more accurate comparison of sociodemographic traits between the two groups. The DIVA evaluation also gives an opportunity to consider the effect of co-occurring conditions on the manifestation of ADHD symptoms.

If your Psychologist is unable to recommend treatment, it might be necessary to set up an appointment with a Pediatrician or Psychiatrist for further assessment and/or therapy. You may be referred to an expert psychologist for a more thorough evaluation of your symptoms and to determine if there is any co-occurring diagnoses or differential diagnoses. This includes assessing comorbid conditions, such as depression or anxiety. This will enable your Psychologist to suggest the best treatment plan.

Getting Started

A diagnosis of ADHD can alter your life. It provides answers to persistent problems and opens the way to effective treatment options. However, a reliable assessment requires the expertise of experienced medical professionals. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a standardized and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of an adult ADHD diagnosis by assessing symptoms across different life stages. It also detects patterns of behavior that persist of behavior, and distinguishes between ADHD symptoms and those of other disorders which may have similar symptoms for adults, such as depression or anxiety.

In the DIVA ADHD assessment, a clinician conducts a structured interview to ask an array of questions about symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The doctor evaluates the severity, frequency and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect an individual in different settings. This information can be used to make an accurate diagnosis.

The DIVA assessment has been verified against other diagnostic tools and exhibits high sensitivity in comparison to the WURS-brief, CAA DID and an assessment by a psychiatrist. It also has excellent reliability when conducting an assessment of ADHD in five areas of daily functioning that include education and work relationships home and family, social contacts, and leisure time and hobbies.

A valid DIVA assessment requires participation from the person being evaluated and their close family members and their friends. This helps build trust and strengthen the therapeutic connection, which is crucial to the success of your assessment.

A psychologist or psychiatrist with experience in the DIVA ADHD assessment can write an in-depth professional report. This report will outline the findings of the test and suggest a treatment plan that is based on the data.

Contact us to make an appointment if you or someone you know might have ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained in the use of DIVA ADHD assessments and can provide a comprehensive evaluation. She can then provide a referral to a specialist to develop an effective treatment strategy. Please be aware that the combination of medication and psychotherapy is the most effective treatment.