Understanding Vanderbilt results

Vanderbilt results show which behaviours each rater sees often and whether daily functioning appears affected. They point toward areas worth a clinical conversation. They cannot confirm ADHD, rule it out, or identify a cause, and they are most useful when repeated over time.

Quick facts

Age range: The 2002 NICHQ document does not state a numeric age range. It instructs raters to judge each behaviour against what is appropriate for the child's age, and the teacher form asks for a grade level, so it is used with school-age children.
Who completes it: A parent or caregiver, and a teacher who sees the child across the school day.
Domains measured: Inattention, Hyperactivity and impulsivity, Co-occurring behaviour items, Performance and functioning items
Form types: Parent / caregiver form, Teacher form
Questions: Parent initial form: 55 items. Teacher initial form: 43 items. The follow-up scales carry the first 18 core symptom questions plus the performance questions.
Completion time: Pending primary-source verification
Source organization: National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ)

Read results as a starting point

A completed form tells you what one person observed in one setting during one period. Treat it as evidence to discuss, not a verdict.

Questions worth asking

Which of these patterns do you want to see again in a few weeks?

What else do you need before we talk about a diagnosis or a support plan?

If we change something, how will we know whether it helped?

Instrument items and rights

This page describes the instrument and links to the official source. We do not reproduce the questionnaire on this site.

NICHQ makes the 2002 first edition available for free download and requests citation when it is referenced. That is not a grant of digital or commercial reproduction rights, and later-edition AAP material must not be reproduced without rights. Public pages describe and cite only.

In-product permission status: not established.

Primary sources

1. NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scales (first edition, 2002) (opens in a new tab), National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ) (2002)
2. AAP ADHD toolkit / later-edition Vanderbilt materials, American Academy of Pediatrics

Author: Threaded Care editorial team

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