Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale · Version 1.1
Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS v1.1)
A widely used screening questionnaire for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults, developed with the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School.
About this scale
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) version 1.1 is a self-report screening instrument for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. It was created through a collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO) and researchers at Harvard Medical School, and its items map onto the ADHD criteria described in the fourth edition (text revision) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR).
The questionnaire contains 18 items spanning the two ADHD symptom domains — inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity — with nine items each. Respondents rate how often each experience has applied to them over the past six months, on a five-point scale from Never to Very Often.
How it's used
The ASRS v1.1 serves two purposes: flagging adults whose symptoms may be consistent with ADHD, and tracking the severity of those symptoms over time. Because it is short, self-administered, and easy to interpret, it is used in both clinical practice and research as an early step rather than a final answer. Validation work has supported its reliability as a screening aid within a broader diagnostic process.
Parts A and B
The 18 items are split into Part A (the first 6 questions) and Part B (the remaining 12). Part A is the heart of the screener — those six items were singled out in validation studies as the most predictive of an adult ADHD diagnosis, so the screening decision is based on them. Part B adds broader context about symptom patterns and their impact, but it doesn't have its own pass/fail cutoff.
Scoring at a glance
Each answer is worth 0 to 4 points (Never = 0, Rarely = 1, Sometimes = 2, Often = 3, Very Often = 4). On the original paper form, certain answers fall inside shaded boxes that mark clinically significant frequencies — and the threshold differs by question, because some symptoms matter even at “Sometimes” while others only count from “Often” upward.
- Shaded-box rule (Part A): four or more shaded answers across the six Part A items is a positive screen.
- Numeric rule (Part A): a more recent approach sums the six Part A items (0–24); 14 or higher counts as positive.
- Full scale (18 items): summed 0–72 for an overall sense of symptom frequency — higher means more frequent symptoms.
A positive screen means your responses are worth following up with a qualified clinician — it is not a diagnosis. A full evaluation looks at developmental history, impairment across settings, and other conditions (such as anxiety, depression, or sleep problems) before ADHD can be confirmed.
How to use this site
- Take the official ASRS v1.1 screener at psychology-tools.com — the test and your responses stay on their site.
- Note the scores it reports back to you (your Part A score, and your total if shown).
- Come back here and enter those scores to see what they mean against the established screening thresholds.
Sources: Schweitzer JB, et al. The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS v1.1), Med Clin North Am, 85(3):757–777, 2001. · American Psychiatric Association, DSM-IV-TR, 85–93, 2000. · Biederman J, et al., Patterns of Psychiatric Comorbidity, Cognition, and Psychosocial Functioning in Adults with ADHD, Am J Psychiatry, 150:1792–1798, 1993. · Barkley RA, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment, 1998.