Standardization and cross-cultural comparisons of the Swedish Conners 3® rating scales. (17th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thorell, Lisa B.; Chistiansen, Hanna; Hammar, Martin; Berggren, Steve; Zander, Eric; Bölte, Sven
• Is Part Of: Nordic journal of psychiatry. Volume 72:Number 8(2018)
• Page Start: 613
• Page End: 620
• Publication Date: 2018-11-17
• Subjects: Rating scale -- standardization -- reliability -- ADHD -- cross-cultural; Psychopharmacology -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Scandinavia -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1080/08039488.2018.1513067
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0803-9488

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose: The Conners Rating Scales are widely used in research and clinical practice for measuring attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and associated problem behaviors, but country-specific norms are seldom collected. The current study presents the standardization of the Swedish Conners 3 ® Rating Scales. In addition, we compared the Swedish norms to those collected in the U.S. and Germany. Material and methods: The study included altogether 3496 ratings of children and adolescents aged 6–18 years from population-based samples. Results: The scores obtained for the Swedish Conners 3 ® showed satisfactory to excellent internal consistency for most subscales and excellent test–retest reliability. Across-informant correlations were modest. Cross-country comparisons revealed that aggression symptoms rated by teachers and ADHD symptoms rated by parents differed between Sweden, Germany and the U.S. Executive functioning deficits also varied as a function of rater and country, with German and Swedish teachers reporting increasing behavior problems with age, whereas a decrease was observed in the U.S. For some subscales, the observed cross-cultural differences were large enough for a child to be classified as being within the normal range ( t- score <60) in one country and within the clinical range ( t- score > 70) in another country. Conclusion: The present study shows that the Swedish adaptation of the Conners 3 ® provides consistent and reproducible scores. However, across-informant ratings were only modest and significant cross-cultural differences in scoring were observed. This emphasizes the need for multi-informant assessment as well as for national norms for rating instruments commonly used within child and adolescent psychiatry research and clinical settings.