The ADHD Rating Scale-IV is designed for use with children ages 5 to 18 and consists of home scales and school. The Home version is also available in Spanish. The scales are rated based on the frequency of symptoms on a 4-point scale ranging from 9 to 3 (never or rarely) to (very often) and each has 18 items. The checklists are designed to be completed by parents and teachers who have observed the child for six months. Divided into four age groups, scores are presented as percentiles separately for boys and girls. The age distribution is 5 to 7 years, 8 to 10 years, 11 to 13 years and 14 to 18 years for the Family and School versions. The rating scales produce three scores: Inattention (IA), Hyperactivity-Impulsivity (HI), and total. According to Lindskog (1998), "on both forms, the inattention scale consists of 9 odd items, and the hyperactivity-impulsivity scale consists of 9 even items, which are alternated to reduce response bias . » It should be noted that the reviewer states that the ADHD Rating Scale-IV is not intended to be used alone in the diagnosis of ADHD, but rather should be used in conjunction with other more reliable sources. comprehensive assessments such as diagnostic interviews, behavioral observations, and behavioral assessments (Lindskog, 1998). .A notable feature of the fourth edition is the change from previous versions of the scale in terms of criteria paralleling those of the DSM-IV. According to Lindskog (1998), “the authors used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with national populations of more than 4,000 to determine whether “these scales would conform to the two-dimensional structure of the diagnostic criteria” (textbook, p. 5 ) for both the home and school scales, and concluded that the scale items align on both one or two factors (AI, ...... middle of paper .. ....nt the instrument Additionally, the instrument is easy to score, which can be useful to teachers and parents as well as in clinical settings. Also worth noting is the idea that alignment. of the DSM-IV criteria may not be entirely relevant in the school setting because many children with attention problems do well in the school setting. In conclusion, using the ADHD Rating Scale-IV scores to diagnose. ADHD should only be done in conjunction with observation of multiple sources, familiarity with the child's behavior in various contexts, and with caution against biased identifications. Source: DuPaul, GJ, Power, TJ, Anastopoulos, AD and Reid, R. (1998). ADHD Rating Scale-IV. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=loh&AN=15192484&site=ehost-live