⚡ Adult ADHD Check

About This Test

Our Mission

Adult ADHD Check exists to give anyone — free of charge — a validated, science-grounded starting point for understanding whether their patterns of attention, focus, and restlessness might be consistent with adult ADHD. ADHD is one of the most under-recognized adult psychiatric conditions; many adults spent decades being told they were "lazy" or "scattered" before learning their brain had been working differently the entire time. We believe self-awareness is the first step toward meaningful change, and that access to evidence-based screening tools should not depend on the ability to pay.

The Science Behind This Test

This assessment uses the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, version 1.1 (ASRS-v1.1) Part A, developed by Dr. Ronald C. Kessler and colleagues in collaboration with the World Health Organization, and published in 2005. The 6-item Part A is the most clinically meaningful subset of the full 18-item ASRS, and is one of the most widely cited brief screeners for adult ADHD in primary care, occupational health, and research settings worldwide.

The ASRS-v1.1 Part A asks about six behaviors experienced over the past six months, including:

  • Trouble finishing the last details of a project once the hard part is done
  • Difficulty organizing tasks that require structure
  • Forgetting appointments or obligations
  • Avoiding or delaying cognitively demanding tasks
  • Fidgeting or restlessness when required to sit still
  • Feeling overly active, "as if driven by a motor"

Each item is rated on a 5-point frequency scale (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Very Often). The screener uses a "shaded response" scoring system: items 1–3 count as positive when answered Sometimes or more frequently, and items 4–6 count as positive when answered Often or more frequently. In the original WHO/NIMH validation study, a threshold of 4 or more shaded responses identified adult ADHD with high sensitivity and specificity in a representative US population sample (Kessler et al., 2005). The screener has subsequently been validated across multiple languages and clinical settings.

What This Test Is — and Is Not

This tool is designed as an educational self-screening, not a clinical diagnostic instrument. The ASRS-v1.1 is a screening questionnaire — it identifies adults likely to benefit from a comprehensive evaluation, but it cannot, by itself, diagnose ADHD or any other condition. Adult ADHD diagnosis requires a clinician to review your developmental history, current functioning across multiple settings, and rule out look-alike conditions such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and thyroid dysfunction.

If you are experiencing severe distress or thoughts of self-harm, please reach out for help immediately. You can call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US) or contact a mental health professional in your area.

Privacy by Design

Your quiz answers are processed entirely within your browser using client-side JavaScript. No responses are transmitted to our servers or stored anywhere. Once you close the browser tab, your data is gone. We do not collect any health information that could be used to identify you.

How We Are Funded

This site is free to use and is supported by two revenue streams: Google AdSense (contextual display advertising) and affiliate partnerships with licensed online therapy providers. When you click an affiliate link and sign up for a service, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. These relationships do not influence the content of the assessment or its results — the ASRS-v1.1 items, thresholds, and language follow the published WHO instrument as faithfully as possible.

References

  • Kessler, R. C., Adler, L., Ames, M., Demler, O., Faraone, S., Hiripi, E., Howes, M. J., Jin, R., Secnik, K., Spencer, T., Ustun, T. B., & 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. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291704002892
  • Kessler, R. C., Adler, L. A., Gruber, M. J., Sarawate, C. A., Spencer, T., & Van Brunt, D. L. (2007). Validity of the World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener in a representative sample of health plan members. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16(2), 52–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.208
  • Adler, L. A., Spencer, T., Faraone, S. V., Kessler, R. C., Howes, M. J., Biederman, J., & Secnik, K. (2006). Validity of pilot Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) to rate adult ADHD symptoms. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 18(3), 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401230600801077
  • Faraone, S. V., Banaschewski, T., Coghill, D., Zheng, Y., Biederman, J., Bellgrove, M. A., Newcorn, J. H., Gignac, M., Al Saud, N. M., Manor, I., Rohde, L. A., Yang, L., Cortese, S., Almagor, D., Stein, M. A., Albatti, T. H., Aljoudi, H. F., Alqahtani, M. M. J., … Wang, Y. (2021). The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 evidence-based conclusions about the disorder. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 789–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.022
  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Contact

Questions, feedback, or media inquiries? Reach us at hello@adultadhdcheck.org