What the ASRS measures
The ASRS-v1.1 was developed in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Workgroup on Adult ADHD. It is specifically designed to adapt childhood DSM criteria into language relevant to adult manifestations of the disorder. It accounts for how hyperactivity often internalizes into restlessness and how inattention manifests in complex adult responsibilities (e.g., career, finances).
The dimensions it assesses
- Inattention (9 Items): Difficulty sustaining focus, careless mistakes, failing to finish tasks, poor organizational skills, and easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
- Hyperactivity/Impulsivity (9 Items): Fidgeting, internal restlessness, difficulty engaging in leisure activities quietly, excessive talking, and interrupting others.
Already have a ASRS score from somewhere else? Look it up without retaking the questionnaire.
What your score means
Scoring is based on whether the response falls into the "Shaded Box" (threshold of clinical significance). The threshold differs depending on the question. (Range: 0 to 6)
| Score | Interpretation | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 3 | Below Diagnostic Threshold: Symptoms do not align with adult ADHD. Other causes for inattention/restlessness should be explored. | |
| 4 – 6 | Highly Consistent with ADHD: The symptom profile is highly predictive of adult ADHD. A formal clinical evaluation is strongly warranted. |
These ranges describe groups of people, not individuals. A score near a boundary is not meaningfully different from one just across it, and no range on this table is a diagnosis.
What to do with your result
- Clinical Follow-Up: If Part A score is ≥ 4, the user should present this screener to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist for a full ADHD evaluation, as medical intervention (stimulant/non-stimulant medication) is often a frontline treatment.
- Executive Function Scaffolding: Regardless of formal diagnosis, high scores indicate a need for external systems. Users should externalize their working memory using strict calendar systems, Pomodoro timers, and "body-doubling" techniques.
- Workplace Accommodations: High scorers on hyperactivity/impulsivity may need flexible work hours, frequent micro-breaks, and movement-friendly workspaces (e.g., standing desks).
How reliable is the ASRS?
The six Part A items were selected by stepwise logistic regression to maximise concordance with clinical diagnosis, and they outperformed the full 18-item scale. Against blinded clinical interviews of 154 respondents from the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication — deliberately oversampled for childhood ADHD — the six-item screener reached a sensitivity of 68.7%, a specificity of 99.5% and a kappa of 0.76. Note what that pairing means in practice: the screener is far better at ruling ADHD in than at ruling it out, and roughly three in ten people who do have it score below the threshold. Figures from Kessler et al. (2005).
Common questions about the ASRS
- What does the ASRS measure?
- Screening for Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) aligning with DSM-5 criteria.
- Can the ASRS diagnose me?
- No. Adult ADHD Screening (ASRS) is a screening questionnaire, not a diagnostic tool. It can flag that something may need a closer look. It cannot tell you what is causing it. It describes tendencies rather than diagnosing anything, and no result here is a condition or something to fix.
- How long does the ASRS take?
- 18 questions, which most people finish in 5 – 8 minutes. There is no time limit, and answering honestly matters more than answering quickly. The results page checks for patterns suggesting the questions were rushed.
- Is this ASRS test really free?
- Yes. No account, no email address, no payment. Psychometrics Today is funded by donations rather than advertising, which is also what allows us to publish instruments whose authors permit free but non-commercial use.
- Are my answers stored or shared?
- No. Your answers are scored inside your browser and never sent to us. There is no database of responses, because we never receive any. Closing the tab erases them, which is why results cannot be recovered afterwards.
- How often should I retake the ASRS?
- Traits and preferences move slowly, so retaking this every few months is more informative than retaking it often. Larger shifts usually follow a genuine change in circumstances.
- Who created the ASRS, and is this the real version?
- It was published by World Health Organization. WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview screener; free to reproduce. The items here are the published ones rather than a paraphrase, and the scoring follows the original rules. Both are documented on this page so they can be checked.
- How accurate is the ASRS?
- The six Part A items were selected by stepwise logistic regression to maximise concordance with clinical diagnosis, and they outperformed the full 18-item scale. Against blinded clinical interviews of 154 respondents from the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication — deliberately oversampled for childhood ADHD — the six-item screener reached a sensitivity of 68.7%, a specificity of 99.5% and a kappa of 0.76. Note what that pairing means in practice: the screener is far better at ruling ADHD in than at ruling it out, and roughly three in ten people who do have it score below the threshold. Figures from Kessler et al. (2005).
Sources
Rights held by World Health Organization. Developed and validated by the researchers cited below.
- Kessler, R. C., Adler, L., Ames, M., Demler, O., Faraone, S., Hiripi, E., ... & Walters, E. E. (2005). The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): a short screening scale for use in the general population. Psychological Medicine, 35(2), 245-256.
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
Licensing
Public domain. WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview screener; free to reproduce.