Diva ADHD Assessment: What's The Only Thing Nobody Is Discussing
DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is an interview that is semistructured designed to enhance ADHD assessment for adults. This study will evaluate the reliability of the criteria used to determine DIVA 2.0 and its validity in conjunction with Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) criteria.
Compared to the top 20 attributes, DIVA attributes that correlate strongest with diagnosis are attention deficit for both childhood and adulthood and hyperactivity/impulsivity for adults, followed by CAARS ADHD TT1 score and IOWA personality disorders evaluation.
Symptoms
ADD/ADHD symptoms impact all aspects of our lives, from relationships to advancement in our careers and the daily tasks we perform. It is essential that our ADHD assessment takes a comprehensive approach, looking at how the symptoms impact all aspects of our lives. Dr. Schilling will begin by evaluating your symptoms and medical history. She will then conduct a DIVA 5 assessment. This is a semi-structured, structured interview that examines both the primary symptoms and the impact of ADD/ADHD on your life.
The DIVA is an interview tool for diagnosing ADHD. diva assessment for adhd was created by psychologists and psychiatrists to evaluate adult ADHD symptoms. It has been demonstrated to be highly sensitive and precise. It is extremely effective in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It can help raise awareness and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semistructured diagnosis interview available in the country.
A trained and experienced clinician, typically psychiatrists, will ask questions to determine the primary symptoms of ADHD. These include hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The psychologist will also look into the individual's history and examine their childhood experiences and how they may have influenced their behavior. This is because the symptoms of ADHD don't just emerge in a flash, they manifest through the teenage years, and into adulthood.
The DIVA can effectively identify people suffering from ADHD because it takes into consideration both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in adulthood and childhood, and how those symptoms have affected an individual's daily functioning in five different areas of life: education, work, family/partner relations social activities/leisure time and self-esteem and confidence in oneself. Other screening tools, such as the WURS brief, which was compared with the CAADID demonstrated low sensitivity and negative predictive value.
Diagnosis
To diagnose ADHD in adults, it is essential to determine the severity of the symptoms and their causes. This can be done by a comprehensive interview about childhood symptoms as well as an assessment of neurocognitive capacity. It is also essential to look at the impact of the symptoms on the individual's life and work. This can be evaluated conducting a structured interview, the DIVA and, in some cases, getting information from relatives and friends.
The DIVA is a semi-structured interview that was initially developed to be used with adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised for use in other countries, including Korea. This study examined the validity of the criterion used to determine the Korean version of DIVA (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD.
During the DIVA The clinician will inquire about the presence of ADHD symptoms during childhood and into adulthood, the age at which symptoms onset, and the extent of impairment resulting from those symptoms. The doctor will also collect a variety of sociodemographic information and inquire about any psychiatric co-morbidities.
Patients were examined for psychiatric comorbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0 and the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Two experienced psychiatrists utilized the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 to establish a diagnosis of ADHD. They assessed symptoms in adulthood as well as childhood, and determined the duration of symptoms.
The sensitivity and specificity of DIVA-5 was found to be high for both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in childhood and adulthood. The diagnostic tool was demonstrated to have good compatibility with the WURS scale as well as fair concurrent validity with three self-report rating instruments: the ASRS, FAB, and Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
The sensitivity and specificity of the DIVA-5 was found to be high for all subtypes of ADHD in both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in adulthood and during childhood. The accuracy of diagnosing ADHD with the DIVA-5 was found to be similar to the accuracy of a clinical diagnosis established by two expert psychiatrists. This was in line with the specificity and sensitivity of earlier screening tools, such as the ASRS and the WURS.

Treatment
If you are not diagnosed with ADHD, it can significantly impact your life. It can impact your relationships, academic progress, and work. It can also affect how you organize your day-to-day activities. A diagnosis can help you determine your strengths and weaknesses, as well as offer treatment options to improve your symptoms and coping mechanism.
A licensed clinician (typically psychiatrists or psychologist) will conduct an organized conversation with you, using the DIVA-5 instrument to assess your current symptoms. It will include standardised questions about your levels of hyperactivity, attention deficit and an impulsiveness. It will also look into your personal history, including childhood experiences, in order to gain a complete understanding of your symptoms and their impacts on your life.
This method is crucial to a complete adult ADHD diagnosis. This helps us better know your symptoms and help you with your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to identify adult ADHD with high specificity and sensitivity. It has also been shown to be reliable in determining the validity of criterion when compared to self-report rating scales such as the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good consistency with these scales and fair validity with Sheehan’s Dysfunction Inventory.
The DIVA assessment, in contrast to more traditional methods of assessing ADHD in adulthood, focuses on identifying the symptoms that are present in childhood and adults. This increases the accuracy of diagnosis and allows for a more accurate comparison of sociodemographic characteristics between the two groups. The DIVA assessment can also be used to assess the effects of coexisting disorders on manifestation and severity of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is not able to recommend medication, it may be necessary to schedule an appointment with a pediatrician or Psychiatrist for a further assessment and/or therapy. They can refer you to a specialist Psychologist to conduct an thorough evaluation of your symptoms, and to assess for co-occurring diagnoses or differential diagnoses. This includes assessing for co-occurring conditions like depression and anxiety. This will allow your Psychologist to recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
Being diagnosed with ADHD can be life-changing, offering explanations for long-standing problems and opening the door to effective treatment options. However, a thorough evaluation requires the expertise of experienced medical professionals. The DIVA ADHD assessment, a structured and comprehensive tool, can help to improve the adult ADHD diagnosis accuracy by analyzing symptoms across different stages of life. It also helps identify patterns of behavior and differentiates between ADHD symptoms and other conditions that can exhibit similar symptoms for adults, such as depression or anxiety.
In an DIVA ADHD assessment, a clinician conducts a structured interview to ask several questions regarding symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. The clinician evaluates the severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect an individual in different settings. This information can then be used to create an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA test is validated in comparison with other diagnostic tools. It shows high sensitivity compared to CAA-DIDs, WURS-briefs, and psychiatrist's tests. It also has excellent reliability for it comes to assessing ADHD in five areas of daily functioning: work and education, relationships, home and family social interactions, free time and hobbies.
A well-validated DIVA assessment requires participation from the person being assessed as well as their closest family members and friends. This will help to build trust and create a therapeutic bond which is essential to the success of the evaluation.
A qualified psychologist or psychiatrist who is skilled in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment will be able to provide a detailed report. This report will outline the findings of the assessment and recommend a treatment plan that is based on the data.
Please contact us to set up an appointment if you or someone you love may be suffering from ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained to use the DIVA ADHD assessments and can provide a thorough evaluation. She can then make a referral to specialists to design an effective treatment strategy. Please be aware that an amalgamation of psychotherapy and medication is the best treatment.