Quick Delay Questionnaire: Reliability, validity, and relations to functional impairments in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Abstract

The Quick Delay Questionnaire (QDQ) is a self-report measure of delay-related behaviors in adults, and the present study aimed at investigating the psychometric properties of QDQ scores, how well they can discriminate between ADHD adults and both clinical and nonclinical controls, as well as their relations to measures of functional impairments. In the present study, QDQ ratings, a laboratory measure of delay discounting, and ratings of functional impairments were collected from adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 51), a clinical control group with other psychiatric disorders (n = 46), and a nonclinical control group (n = 105). Results showed that the QDQ scores showed adequate reliability. Adults with ADHD had higher scores compared with normal controls on both QDQ subscales, and they also reported higher levels of delay aversion than the clinical controls. Logistic regression analyses showed high specificity but low sensitivity when trying to discriminate between adults with ADHD and nonclinical controls. QDQ scores were not associated with a laboratory measure of delay discounting, but with functional impairments such as substance use, criminality, and money management. Our findings indicate that QDQ scores are reliable, but this instrument should be regarded as a complement rather than as a replacement for laboratory measures. The relatively low sensitivity of QDQ scores is in line with current models of heterogeneity stating that only a subgroup of individuals with ADHD has high levels of delay-related behaviors. Our findings further indicate that this subgroup may be at particularly high risk for problems in everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neuropsychological deficits in relation to ADHD symptoms, quality of life, and daily life functioning in young adulthood

“…Previous ADHD research on children has shown that there are independent effects of, but also an overlap between, different neuropsychological deficits in both clinical (Nigg et al, 2005;Sj€ owall et al, 2013;Sonuga-Barke, Bitsakou, & Thompson, 2010) and non-clinical samples (Wåhlstedt, Thorell, & Bohlin, 2009). In the few previous studies of adults that have investigated the overlap between different neuropsychological deficits, it has been shown that delayrelated behaviors and executive deficits have independent effects on ADHD in both clinical Mostert et al, 2015) and non-clinical samples (Thorell, Sj€ owall, Mies, & Scheres, 2017). This finding is in line with the dual pathway hypothesis (Sonuga-Barke, 2003).…”

Neuropsychological deficits in adults age 60 and above with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…The first showed that adults with ADHD were more likely to meet criteria for problem gambling than normal controls were, and that probability discounting, but not delay discounting, explained a significant amount of the variance in gambling-related measures after controlling for ADHD symptoms (Zhijie et al, 2013). In the second study, ratings of delay-related behavior were significantly associated with substance abuse, criminality, and money management (Thorell, Sjöwall, Mies, & Scheres, 2017).…”

“…Daily Life Functioning. We used the ADHD Daily Problem Questionnaire (ADPQ; Thorell, Sjöwall, Mies, & Scheres, 2017) to assess daily life functioning in several areas. The ADPQ is similar in design to Barkley's Functional Impairment Scale (BFIS;Barkley, 2011b), in that it contains a list of daily activities, and participants (or a close relative/friend of the patient) are asked to rate their level of functioning on a scale from 0 ("no problem") to 9 ("very severe problem").…”

Delay Aversion and Executive Functioning in Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Before and After Stimulant Treatment

“…Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with a prevalence of around 2.5% in adults ( Simon et al, 2009 ). Recently, dual pathway ( Sonuga-Barke, 2002 , 2003 ), and multiple pathway models ( Sonuga-Barke et al, 2010 ) of ADHD have been proposed based on evidence of partially dissociable patterns of deficits in distinct neuropsychological domains in individuals with ADHD (e.g., Solanto et al, 2001 ; Sonuga-Barke et al, 2010 ; Coghill et al, 2014 ; Thorell et al, 2016 ; but see Lambek et al, 2017). Two domains thought to be particularly important are executive functioning (EF) and delay aversion (DA) ( Sonuga-Barke, 2002 , 2003 ).…”