Diva ADHD Assessment: It's Not As Difficult As You Think
DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is an interview with a semistructured format that was developed to improve ADHD assessment in adults. This study will evaluate the criterion valid of DIVA 2.0 as well as its concurrent validity compared to Conners Adult ADHD Diagnosis Interview for DSM-IV 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 impact all aspects of our lives from relationships to career advancement and the daily tasks we perform. It is crucial that our ADHD assessment is a holistic approach, looking at how the symptoms affect all aspects of life. In your assessment, Dr. Schilling will begin by obtaining information about your symptoms and health history. She will then conduct the DIVA 5 assessment. This is a semi-structured, interview that evaluates both the core symptoms and the impact of ADD/ADHD on your life.
The DIVA is an interview tool developed by psychotherapists and psychiatrists to assess symptoms of adult ADHD. It has been demonstrated to have a high sensitivity to sound and a high degree of specificity. It is also extremely effective in identifying individuals suffering from the disorder. It is able to raise awareness and help diagnose adult ADHD in Korea as it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic interview available in the country.
A trained and experienced clinician, typically psychiatrists will inquire about the primary symptoms of ADHD. These include hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The doctor will also dig into the background of the individual by looking at their early experiences and how they could have influenced their behavior. The symptoms of ADHD do not appear suddenly. They develop over a time, from childhood to teen years and then into adulthood.
The DIVA is able to effectively identify people suffering from ADHD by taking into account both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD during childhood and into adulthood and how these symptoms have impacted the individual's daily functioning in five distinct areas of life: education and work, family/partnership relations and leisure time/social activities, and self-esteem and self-confidence. Other screening tools, for instance the WURS brief that was compared to the CAADID demonstrated low sensitivity and negative predictive value.
Diagnosis
To determine the presence of ADHD in adults it is important that you evaluate the symptoms as well as their background. This can be accomplished through conducting a thorough interview about childhood symptoms as well as an assessment of neurocognitive capacity. It is essential to take into consideration the impact that these symptoms have on the person's job and daily life. This can be evaluated through a structured medical interview, the DIVA, and in some instances, getting information from friends and family members.
The DIVA interview is a semistructured, structured interview that was originally designed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been refined for use in other countries including Korea. This study looked at the validity of the Korean version of DIVA (DIVA-5) in an adult clinical sample with ADHD.
During the DIVA The clinician will inquire about the presence of ADHD symptoms during childhood and adulthood, the age at which the symptoms onset, and the severity of impairment resulting from these symptoms. The doctor also collects a wide range of sociodemographic data and inquires about any psychiatric comorbidity.
Patients were examined for psychiatric comorbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0 and the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI), and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). A diagnosis of clinical ADHD was made by two experienced psychiatrists who utilized the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 to evaluate symptoms in both childhood and adulthood, and to determine the duration of those 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: 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 comparable to that of a clinical diagnoses that were made by two psychiatrists. This was in line with the specificity and sensitivity of previous screening tools, such as the ASRS and the WURS.
Treatment
If you are not diagnosed with ADHD it can greatly affect your life. This could be in a variety of areas, from relationships, academic and work progress to the simple tasks of organising daily living. A diagnosis can help you determine your strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide treatments that can help you manage your symptoms and mechanisms.
how to get an adhd assessment licensed clinician, usually a psychiatrist or psychologist, will conduct an in-depth interview with you regarding your current symptoms using the DIVA-5 assessment tool. This will involve standardised questions about your levels of hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. It will also dig into your personal history and childhood experiences to give you a complete picture of your symptoms.
This method is essential to ensure a complete diagnosis of adult ADHD. It also allows us to understand the root causes of your symptoms, which helps guide your treatment.
The DIVA assessment is a highly effective way of diagnosing adult ADHD and has high sensitivity and specificity. It has also been proven to be reliable in determining the validity of criterion when compared with self-report rating scales like the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concurrent validity with these scales, and reasonable validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
The DIVA assessment, in contrast to more traditional methods of testing ADHD in adulthood, focuses on identifying symptoms that manifest in childhood and adults. This improves the accuracy of diagnoses and allows for a more precise comparison of the sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA evaluation also provides an opportunity to look at the effect of co-occurring disorders on the appearance of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is not able to prescribe treatment, it might be necessary to make an appointment with a pediatrician or Psychiatrist for a further assessment and/or therapy. You can be referred psychologists who specialize in more in-depth assessment of your symptoms and to determine if there are any co-occurring or different diagnoses. This includes assessing for comorbid disorders like depression and anxiety. This will allow your Psychologist to recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
Getting diagnosed with ADHD can have a profound impact on your life, offering explanations for long-standing problems and opening the door to effective treatment options. However, a thorough evaluation requires the expertise of experienced healthcare experts. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a structured and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of adult ADHD diagnosis by assessing symptoms across various life stages. It also identifies patterns of behavior that persist and aids in distinguishing between ADHD symptoms and other disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
In a DIVA ADHD assessment, a clinician uses a structured interview to ask a series of questions about symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. The doctor evaluates the severity, frequency and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect the person in various situations. This information can be used to determine an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA assessment is confirmed in comparison to other diagnostic tools. It has a high sensitivity when compared to CAA-DIDs, WURS-briefs and psychiatrist's assessments. It also has a high degree of validity when assessing ADHD symptoms in five areas of daily functioning: education and work as well as relationships, family and home; social contacts; and free time and hobbies.
A well-validated DIVA assessment requires the participation of the person being assessed as well as their closest family members and close friends. This helps build trust and a strong therapeutic bond, which will be essential to the success of your evaluation.
A psychologist or psychiatrist who has expertise in the DIVA ADHD assessment can give an extensive, professional report. This report will present the findings of the assessment and recommend a treatment plan that is based on the data.
If you suspect that you or someone you love might have ADHD If you suspect that someone you know may have ADHD, please call us to make an appointment. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessments and can provide a comprehensive evaluation. She can refer you to a specialist who will formulate an appropriate treatment plan. Be aware that a combination of psychotherapy and medication is the recommended treatment.