ASRS v1.1: Adult ADHD Screener, Questions & Scoring

§I.What is ASRS v1.1?

ASRS v1.1 stands for Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale version 1.1. It is an adult symptom checklist developed with the World Health Organization Workgroup on Adult ADHD and researchers including Ronald Kessler, Lenard Adler, and Thomas Spencer. The original form asks adults age 18 and older how often certain experiences occurred during the previous six months.

The instrument was designed as a screen: a fast way to identify people whose pattern of responses may justify a more complete assessment. It is not a stand-alone diagnostic test, and it does not evaluate every part of diagnosis. A clinician still has to consider functional impairment, childhood onset, symptoms in more than one setting, other medical or mental-health explanations, and whether another condition better accounts for the difficulties.

§II.Does the ASRS have 6 or 18 questions?

Both formats exist, and they serve related but different purposes. The full ASRS v1.1 Symptoms Checklist contains 18 questions corresponding to the adult expression of the 18 DSM-IV ADHD symptoms. Its first six questions form Part A, the short screener selected in the original validation work because that response pattern best predicted clinical classification. The remaining 12 questions form Part B and provide a broader symptom picture.

Part B does not create a second pass/fail diagnosis. It adds information that can help a clinician or respondent see a wider pattern. If a website presents “the ASRS” without saying which version, check whether it means the six-question Part A, the full 18-question v1.1 checklist, or the later ASRS-5.

§III.What do the ASRS questions measure?

The ASRS v1.1 asks about the frequency of adult experiences related to inattention and hyperactivity or impulsivity over the prior six months. Responses use five frequency choices, from never through very often. The wording is framed around recognizable adult situations rather than childhood classroom behavior.

This guide does not reproduce the item text. That is deliberate: the official formatting, response options, and shaded scoring boxes are part of how the instrument is administered. For the actual questions, open the official Harvard-hosted six-question ASRS v1.1 PDF. Using the source form reduces scoring mistakes and avoids altered or incomplete copies.

A response can also be influenced by sleep loss, anxiety, depression, trauma, substance use, medication effects, medical conditions, or a demanding environment. That overlap is one reason a questionnaire cannot settle diagnosis by itself.

§IV.How is ASRS v1.1 Part A scored?

There are two published scoring approaches, and they should not be blended. The familiar original method uses item-specific shaded boxes and produces a count from 0 to 6. A 2024 Harvard scoring update describes a separate 0-to-24 total intended to improve robustness in research and prevalence estimation.

Original shaded-box scoring: 0 to 6

On the official Part A form, certain response cells are shaded. Count how many of your six marked responses fall inside those shaded cells. Four or more shaded responses suggest that the symptom pattern may be consistent with adult ADHD and that further clinical evaluation may be useful. It does not mean that four symptoms have been diagnosed, and it is not a measure of ADHD severity.

The cutoff is not obtained by simply labeling every response above one frequency as positive. The threshold differs by item, which is why the visual shading on the official form matters.

2024 scoring update: 0 to 24

In February 2024, the Harvard National Comorbidity Survey team posted an alternative method after noting that the original dichotomous algorithm could produce high and inconsistent prevalence estimates in some surveys. Under the update, Never = 0, Rarely = 1, Sometimes = 2, Often = 3, and Very Often = 4. The six responses are added for a total from 0 to 24, with 14 or higher used as the proposed cutpoint.

The official 2024 scoring update is especially relevant to researchers and survey users. For an individual completing the original printable screener, report which method you used rather than converting between methods or comparing the numbers as though they were the same scale.

§V.How accurate is the ASRS?

The ASRS is useful for screening, but no single accuracy number applies to every population or setting. In the original 2005 study, the six-question screener was compared with blinded clinical reappraisal interviews in a 154-person subsample of the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication. In that study, the short screener had 68.7% sensitivity, 99.5% specificity, 97.9% total classification accuracy, and a kappa of 0.76.

Those figures describe one study design and one sample; they are not a promise about an online quiz, a clinic population, another language, or a different scoring method. Predictive value changes when ADHD prevalence changes, and self-report can be affected by interpretation, recall, context, and co-occurring conditions. The 2024 scoring update is itself a reminder that performance can shift across samples and use cases.

§VI.ASRS v1.1 versus ASRS-5

ASRS-5 is not another name for ASRS v1.1 Part A. It is a separate six-question scale published in 2017 to align screening with DSM-5. Its developers used a machine-learning selection procedure and a weighted scoring algorithm; the item set and scoring are different from the original v1.1 screener.

This distinction matters when interpreting a score or requesting permission. A result from one instrument should not be entered into the scoring rules for the other. It also matters historically: ASRS v1.1 was built around DSM-IV symptom criteria, while ASRS-5 was the later DSM-5-optimized instrument. The original ASRS-5 paper is available through JAMA Psychiatry.

§VII.What happens after a positive screen?

A positive ASRS result means that a professional assessment may be worth pursuing, especially when the experiences are persistent and impairing. It does not establish childhood onset, confirm that symptoms occur across settings, or rule out other causes.

A comprehensive adult ADHD evaluation usually includes:

• A detailed clinical interview about current symptoms, impairment, health, sleep, mood, substance use, and treatment history.
• Developmental history because ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, even when it was not recognized in childhood.
• Evidence across settings such as home, work, education, relationships, or daily administration.
• Collateral information when appropriate from records or someone who knows the person well.
• Differential diagnosis to examine conditions and circumstances that can mimic, worsen, or coexist with ADHD.
• Clinical integration rather than a decision based on one checklist score.

Our guide to how adult ADHD is diagnosed walks through that process, including criteria, common rule-outs, and preparation for an appointment. If your main question is why signs can remain hidden for years, see why adult ADHD goes undiagnosed.

§VIII.Is the ASRS free to use or public domain?

The six-question ASRS v1.1 screener may be used without formal permission under the conditions stated by Harvard, but it is copyrighted and is not public domain. Harvard’s National Comorbidity Survey page asks users to cite the 2005 paper, include the required copyright notice, and preserve the six questions, response options, scoring, and shading without alteration.

For publication, software, clinical deployment, translation, adaptation, or organizational use, verify the current terms directly on the Harvard ASRS distribution and permissions page. This summary is informational and is not legal advice.

§IX.Is LifeByLogic’s Adult ADHD Test the ASRS?

No. The LifeByLogic Adult ADHD Test is a separate, 20-item LBL-original self-reflection inventory. It maps attention and executive function, hyperactivity and impulsivity, and emotional self-regulation. It does not reproduce ASRS questions, does not use ASRS scoring, and has not been validated as a clinical screener or diagnostic instrument.

That tool can help you organize experiences and prepare examples for a conversation with a clinician. If you specifically want the WHO/Harvard ASRS v1.1 screener, use the official form linked above. The LifeByLogic methodology page explains how and why the two resources differ.