Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis in adulthood: Prevalence and predictive utility of…

Cross-sectionalArchives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists· Jul 2026

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis in adulthood: Prevalence and predictive utility of neuropsychological scales.

Maria Pleshkevich, Robiann Broomfield, Sydney Burton … Setari Parsa

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Child & AdolescentCross-sectionalDiagnosisQ2IF 2.4

Current anxiety score, not cognitive testing, best predicted adult ADHD diagnosis

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis in adulthood: Prevalence and predictive utility of neuropsychological scales.

Maria Pleshkevich … Setari Parsa

Archives of clinical neuropsychology · Jul 2026 · Q2 in Psychiatry

Purpose

This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) evaluations in an outpatient neuropsychology clinic and the sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological assessments in differentiating ADHD with comorbid psychiatric conditions from psychiatric-related cognitive deficits.

Methods

Logistic regression analyses were run on neuropsychological testing results extracted from medical records to evaluate each test's ability to predict ADHD diagnosis.

n = 30

AUC = 0.800

Results

AUC = 0.800

higher anxiety scores tracked closely with an ADHD diagnosis

n = 30

More results

Overall, 54% of individuals presenting to the clinic were referred for ADHD, and 58% of those diagnosed with ADHD had a comorbid psychiatric disorder.

No cognitive testing was predictive of ADHD diagnosis (AUC range: 0.503-0.636).

More results

Adults who endorsed higher levels of anxiety were 28% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD (OR = 1.28, 95%CI [0.05, 0.45]).

Subtests of ADHD scales performed worse, but still within the adequate range (AUC range: 0.703-0.751).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Cognitive testing profiles and screeners of current inattention and hyperactivity were indiscriminate between individuals with ADHD and comorbid psychiatric conditions versus psychiatric conditions alone.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Current anxiety was the strongest predictor of adult ADHD diagnosis.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis in adulthood: Prevalence and predictive utility of neuropsychological scales.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis in adulthood: Prevalence and predictive utility of neuropsychological scales.

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