DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semistructured interview developed to improve ADHD assessment in adults. This study is designed to assess the criterion validity of DIVA 2.0 and its validity in conjunction 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.
Signs and symptoms
The symptoms of ADD/ADHD impact all aspects of life from relationships and career advancement to the day-to-day tasks that make up our lives. It is crucial that our ADHD assessment is a holistic view, examining how symptoms impact every aspect of our lives. In your assessment, Dr. Schilling will begin by obtaining details about your symptoms as well as health history. She will then take the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to evaluate the main symptoms of ADD/ADHD, and how they have affected your life.
The DIVA is an interview instrument designed by psychiatrists and psychotherapists to determine the signs of adult ADHD. It has been shown to have a high sensitivity to sound and a high degree of specificity. It is extremely effective in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It can help raise awareness and help diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic test available in the country.
To conduct the DIVA, a trained clinician - often a psychiatrist or psychologist - will ask questions about the core symptoms of ADHD, including hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. The doctor will also dig into the person's past and examine their childhood experiences and how they may have affected their current behaviours. This is because the signs of ADHD don't just emerge suddenly, they develop throughout the teen years, and through adulthood.
The DIVA can effectively detect those suffering from ADHD by taking into consideration both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in adulthood and childhood and how these symptoms have affected an person's daily functioning in five distinct areas of life: education work, family/partner relationships, family, social activities/leisure time, and self-esteem and self-confidence. Other screening tools, such as the WURS brief that was compared with the CAADID revealed low sensitivity and negative predictive value.
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To determine the presence of ADHD in adults it is crucial to assess the symptoms and their history. This can be done through a comprehensive interview on childhood symptoms as well as a neurological assessment. It is crucial to think about the impact that the symptoms can have on a person's work and daily life. This can be assessed by conducting a structured interview, called the DIVA and, in certain cases, obtaining information from family members and friends.
more info is a semistructured interview originally developed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised to be used with adult patients in other countries including Korea. The study examined the criterion that is valid for the Korean version (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample consisting of adults with ADHD.
During the DIVA the doctor asks about the presence of ADHD symptoms during childhood and adulthood, the time at which the symptoms begin to manifest, and the extent of impairment caused by those symptoms. The doctor also collects a diverse set of sociodemographic data and asks about any psychosis-related or comorbidity.
The MINI-S and Version 5.0.0 The MINI-S plus Version 5.0.0, the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impaired Screening Instrument (BEARNI), as well as the Frontal Assessment Battery were used to determine if a psychiatric co-morbidity existed. Two psychiatrists who are experienced used the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 in order to establish a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. They assessed symptoms both in adulthood and childhood and determined the length 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. The diagnostic tool was demonstrated to have good concordance with the WURS scale and fair concurrent validity with three self-report ratings instruments: the ASRS, FAB, 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 diagnostic accuracy of the DIVA-5 was found to be comparable to that of a clinical diagnosis established by two expert psychiatrists. This was in line both with the sensitivity and specificity of earlier screening tools, such ASRS and WURS.
Treatment
If you are not diagnosed with ADHD, it can significantly affect your life. It can affect many areas, from relationships, academic progress and work to the basic tasks of managing your daily life. A diagnosis can help identify your strengths and weaknesses, and also provide treatment options to improve your symptoms and cope mechanisms.
A licensed psychologist (typically a psychiatrist or a psychologist) will have an organized conversation with you, using the DIVA-5 instrument to assess your current symptoms. This will involve asking standardised questions regarding your levels of hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. It will also delve into your personal history, including your childhood experiences, in order to obtain a complete picture of your symptoms and their impact on your life.
This method is essential for ensuring a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. This will help us better know your symptoms and help you with your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to determine adult ADHD with high specificity and sensitivity. It has also been shown to be valid as a criterion when compared to self-report rating scales like the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concurrent validity with these and fair validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
In contrast to the more conventional methods used to assess ADHD in adults, the DIVA test focuses on identifying and discussing the symptoms that occur both during the teen years and into adulthood, increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis and allowing an easier comparison of the sociodemographic characteristics of both groups. The DIVA assessment also permits consideration of the effects of coexisting disorders on the presentation and severity of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is not able to prescribe medication, it may be necessary to set up an appointment with a Paediatrician or Psychiatrist to further assess and/or therapy. They can then refer you to a specialist Psychologist to conduct an thorough evaluation of your symptoms, and to look for co-occurring diagnoses or differential diagnoses. This includes assessing for comorbid conditions such as anxiety and depression. This will enable your Psychologist to suggest an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
A diagnosis of ADHD can transform your life. It can provide answers to persistent issues and opens the door to effective treatment options. However, a reliable assessment requires the expertise of qualified medical experts. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a standardized and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of adult ADHD diagnosis by evaluating symptoms across different life stages. It also helps identify patterns of behavior and differentiates between ADHD symptoms and other conditions that can exhibit similar symptoms in adults, such as depression or anxiety.
In a DIVA ADHD evaluation, a clinician will use a structured interview in order to ask a series of questions regarding symptoms such as hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. The doctor evaluates the frequency, severity and duration of these symptoms in order to understand how they impact on the individual's life and how they function in various environments. This information can then be used to develop an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA assessment is validated in comparison with other diagnostic tools. It has high sensitivity compared to CAA-DIDs, WURS-briefs and psychiatrist's assessments. It also has high validity when assessing ADHD symptoms in five areas of daily functioning: work and education; relationships; home and family social interactions; leisure time and hobbies.
For an authentic DIVA assessment, the person being evaluated, their family and friends need to be present. This will help to build trust and create a therapeutic bond that is important to the success of the assessment.
A psychologist or psychiatrist who has expertise in the DIVA ADHD assessment can write an in-depth professional report. The report will detail the findings of the test and recommend a treatment plan based on the evidence.
If you suspect that you or someone you love may be suffering from ADHD Contact us to make an appointment. Our doctor Kate Schilling is trained in the DIVA ADHD assessment and is able to provide an evaluation. She will refer you to an expert who will create a treatment strategy. Be aware that the combination of medication and psychotherapy is the best treatment.