Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale (Vanderbilt)

Participants’ caregivers were administered the Vanderbilt scale [19, 20] prior to the intervention as well as at each follow-up session to assess observed changes in participants’ attention and behavior. The Vanderbilt scale was shown to have an excellent internal consistency reliability (0.90 ≤ α ≤ 0.95) as well as high concurrent validity (r = 0.79; [21]) when related to the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC-IV; National Institute of Mental Health, 1997) [22]. The Vanderbilt scale assesses the 18 symptoms of ADHD as outlined in the DMS-IV [23]. The Vanderbilt scale was also utilized to distinguish two subgroups within the SPD cohort: those that reached the standardized threshold for inattention or hyperactivity (SPD+IA) and those that did not (SPD). The first follow-up assessment took place shortly after a participant completed 20 days of training with a second follow-up 9 months later [5]. The present study assesses the retainment of improvements three years post intervention. Parents were administered the first 18 questions of the Vanderbilt scale, where the first 9 questions assess symptoms of Inattention and the other 9 questions assess Hyperactivity/Impulsivity on a scale from 0 (“Never”) to 3 (“Very often”). To meet the criteria for either Inattention or Hyperactivity/Impulsivity, scores of 2 or 3 must be selected for at least 6 out of the 9 items. For quantitative analyses, sum from both scales were calculated as well as a total score combining both scales.