The child ADHD scale that gates most stimulant starts was built with a federal grant and is free
The Vanderbilt parent rating scale was validated with an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant in 243 referred children. It is distributed free by NICHQ. Its founding sample was a clinic population, not a general one.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: A referred sample inflates apparent accuracy relative to general populations; the scales are DSM-IV era and have been carried forward.
Significant findings
Before most children in the United States start a stimulant, a parent and a teacher fill in a Vanderbilt scale. The parent version was validated in "a longitudinal study on communication among physicians, teachers, and parents in diagnosing, treating, and managing children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder", with 243 children from the study's first two years. The scale "was created to collect uniform patient data and minimize the time burden of lengthy interviews." The record lists a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The teacher version was validated separately in 1998 across a suburban county's schools.
The scales are distributed free by the National Institute for Children's Health Quality, which is why they are the default. The founding parent sample was a referred population, children already sent to a clinic, where ADHD is common.
Worth asking
A scale built to shorten interviews is not a substitute for one. If the path from the form to the prescription did not include a proper evaluation, or did not include the teacher's version, those are the questions.
Source
Psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt ADHD diagnostic parent rating scale in a referred population — Wolraich ML, Lambert W, Doffing MA, Bickman L, Simmons T, Worley K (2003)
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsg046
DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsg046
How this was scored
- Study design
- not recorded
- Funding
- not recorded
- Published in
- not recorded
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
We have not finished checking this source, so there is no scoring to show yet. “We have not checked this yet” and “this is disputed” are different statements, so no scored band is shown rather than a low one.
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 17, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: A referred sample inflates apparent accuracy relative to general populations; the scales are DSM-IV era and have been carried forward. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt ADHD diagnostic parent rating scale in a referred population — Wolraich ML, Lambert W, Doffing MA, Bickman L, Simmons T, Worley K (2003). DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsg046. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.