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When an adult client asks “do you think this is ADHD?”, the ASRS gives you a fast, validated answer in under five minutes. Six screening items that flag probable ADHD, then twelve more for clinical context. This is the World Health Organization’s adult ADHD instrument and the dominant adult ADHD screener in clinical practice globally.

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What it measures

Part A — six items chosen from the full 18 as the best DSM-IV/DSM-5 screener:
  1. Wrapping up details on a project
  2. Getting things in order
  3. Remembering appointments
  4. Avoiding tasks that require sustained thought
  5. Fidgeting while seated
  6. Feeling “driven by a motor”
Part B — the remaining 12 items covering the full DSM symptom profile across attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity domains.

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When to use it

  • Adult intake when ADHD is on the differential
  • Before a referral for formal ADHD assessment — gives the assessor a starting point
  • Periodic re-check during treatment to track which symptoms are responding

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How clients fill it out

Five minutes self-administered. Items are rated 0-4 (Never / Rarely / Sometimes / Often / Very Often).

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Scoring and severity cutoffs

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Part A — shaded-region scoring

The ASRS uses item-specific scoring on Part A (the “shaded boxes” on Kessler’s original score sheet):
  • Items 1, 2, 3 — Sometimes / Often / Very Often counts as 1 point
  • Items 4, 5, 6 — Often / Very Often counts as 1 point
Rivet handles the per-item rule inside the answer options. You read the shaded-positive count straight from the per-subscale score. Cutoff: ≥4 shaded positives = probable ADHD. Kessler 2005 reported sensitivity 68.7% / specificity 99.5% in a community sample — a positive Part A is highly informative.

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Part B — symptom burden

Items 7-18 use standard 0-4 Likert scoring. The sum (range 0-48) gives you a symptom-burden index for clinical context. No diagnostic cutoff — Part B is descriptive, useful for understanding whether the client’s profile leans toward inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or both.

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ASRS vs SNAP-IV, and vs the Conners

Age decides the first one. The ASRS is the adult self-report scale; the SNAP-IV is the parent- or teacher-rated scale for children and adolescents, and it also covers oppositional symptoms, which the ASRS does not. Two things worth pairing with either:
  • When mood or anxiety could be driving the attention complaints, run PHQ-9 and GAD-7 alongside. Depression and anxiety both produce concentration problems that look like ADHD.
  • Part A of the ASRS is the screen; Part B is symptom profile. Only Part A carries a cutoff.
Against the Conners scales: those are licensed by MHS and paid for per use, so Rivet doesn’t include them. For clients under 18 the SNAP-IV covers similar ground — ADHD inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, plus oppositional symptoms — with no licence fee. If your assessments require the Conners specifically, you’ll be running it wherever you licensed it.

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Is it free to use?

Yes. A WHO instrument, free for clinical and research use.

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Citation

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. Free clinical and research use per WHO.

SNAP-IV

Pediatric ADHD + ODD rating scale — the parent or teacher counterpart to the ASRS.

PHQ-9

Rule out depression-driven concentration problems before locking in an ADHD impression.

GAD-7

Rule out anxiety-driven distractibility on the same logic.