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Quiz: Getting A Diagnosis

Test your understanding of the ADHD diagnostic process, who can diagnose it, and what a diagnosis means with these review questions.

1. Which of the following is true about who can diagnose ADHD, according to this chapter?

  1. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and primary care providers can all diagnose ADHD, though each fits different situations best
  2. Only psychiatrists are legally allowed to diagnose ADHD
  3. Only a brain scan performed by a neurologist can confirm ADHD
  4. Diagnosis requires a school principal's referral
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter describes three main figures who can diagnose — psychiatrists, psychologists, and primary care providers — each best suited to different situations, from complex medication questions to straightforward childhood presentations. Option B wrongly excludes psychologists and PCPs. Option C is directly contradicted; no brain scan diagnoses ADHD. Option D invents a requirement the chapter never states.

Concept Tested: Who Can Diagnose ADHD

See: Chapter 5

2. What does the "age of onset criterion" require for a valid ADHD diagnosis?

  1. The person must be under 18 at the time of evaluation
  2. Several symptoms must have been present before age 12
  3. Symptoms must have appeared only in the last six months
  4. The person must have failed a grade in school
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The age of onset criterion requires several symptoms to have been present before age 12, which is why old report cards and childhood memories matter so much in an evaluation. Option A confuses onset age with age at evaluation, which can be any age. Option C describes the opposite of a lifelong, early-starting pattern. Option D invents an unrelated academic requirement.

Concept Tested: Age Of Onset Criterion

See: Chapter 5

3. What does a thorough evaluation report typically include, according to this chapter?

  1. Only the final diagnostic code, with no further detail
  2. A prescription only, without any written explanation
  3. The referral question, procedures used, history summary, test scores if any, diagnostic conclusion, and recommendations
  4. A guarantee of specific treatment outcomes
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The correct answer is C. The chapter describes a real evaluation report as containing the referral question, procedures used, a history summary, test scores if any, a diagnostic conclusion, and recommendations — a document meant to be read in full, not just for its last line. Option A describes a hollow report the chapter warns against. Option B confuses the report with a prescription. Option D overstates what any report can promise.

Concept Tested: Evaluation Report

See: Chapter 5

4. Why does this chapter warn against relying on a continuous performance test (CPT) alone to diagnose ADHD?

  1. CPTs are inaccurate for every person who takes them
  2. CPTs are only available in research settings, not clinics
  3. CPTs measure only long-term memory, which is irrelevant to ADHD
  4. A quiet, novel computer task is a low-symptom setting, so many people with ADHD pass it while some without ADHD score poorly on a bad night — it's one data point, not the verdict
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter explains that a quiet room with a novel computer task is precisely the low-symptom setting situational variability predicts, so CPT results alone are unreliable in either direction and should count as one data point among many. Option A overstates the test's unreliability across the board. Option B is factually wrong; CPTs are used clinically. Option C misdescribes what CPTs measure — sustained attention and impulsive responses, not long-term memory.

Concept Tested: Continuous Performance Tests

See: Chapter 5

5. Why does this chapter emphasize gathering collateral information, such as a partner's or teacher's input, during an evaluation?

  1. People with ADHD are often imprecise self-observers, so information from people who see them daily corrects for under- or over-reporting
  2. Collateral information replaces the need for a clinical interview entirely
  3. Collateral information is only useful for children, never for adults
  4. It is required only when the person being evaluated refuses to participate
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter explains that self-monitoring is often weak in ADHD, so people under- or over-report their own symptoms, and collateral information from someone who observes them daily corrects for that gap. Option B wrongly treats collateral as a replacement rather than a complement to the interview. Option C is contradicted; the chapter explicitly extends collateral information to adult evaluations via partners. Option D invents a condition the chapter never states.

Concept Tested: Collateral Information

See: Chapter 5

6. How does this chapter resolve the tension between the underdiagnosis pattern and the overdiagnosis debate?

  1. It concludes overdiagnosis is a myth invented by skeptics
  2. It concludes underdiagnosis is a myth and only overdiagnosis is real
  3. It holds that both failures are real and coexist, and the resolution to both is the same thing: thorough evaluations of the kind this chapter describes
  4. It recommends abandoning diagnosis altogether given the uncertainty
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The correct answer is C. The chapter takes the position that sloppy quick diagnoses and massive missed populations both genuinely exist, and that thorough, well-structured evaluations resolve both problems at once. Option A and B each dismiss one real failure mode the chapter affirms. Option D contradicts the chapter's entire practical purpose of teaching readers to seek good evaluations.

Concept Tested: Overdiagnosis Debate

See: Chapter 5

7. An online clinic offers "ADHD diagnosis in 30 minutes" based on a single attention test, with medication shipped the same week. Using this chapter's evaluation anatomy, what is the strongest concern?

  1. Telehealth itself makes any evaluation invalid
  2. It skips nearly every core component — real history-taking, childhood evidence, collateral information, and differential diagnosis — leaving only the least reliable single instrument
  3. Same-week medication is illegal in all circumstances
  4. Attention tests are never used in legitimate evaluations
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter's checkbox exercise on this exact scenario finds nearly every component missing: no real interview, no childhood evidence, no collateral, no differential diagnosis, leaving only an attention-test-style instrument the chapter explicitly warns is unreliable alone. Option A is wrong; the chapter states telehealth done right is legitimate. Option C is not a claim the chapter makes about legality. Option D is false; attention tests are a common, legitimate component when used alongside everything else.

Concept Tested: Diagnostic Evaluation

See: Chapter 5

8. A father hopes his son's new ADHD diagnosis will mean the school "excuses" missed homework and lowers expectations entirely. Based on what this chapter says a diagnosis does and does not mean, how should this expectation be corrected?

  1. The diagnosis does mean exactly that — expectations should be dropped entirely
  2. A diagnosis obligates the school to skip all consequences for any behavior
  3. A diagnosis means the child no longer needs to attend school
  4. A diagnosis names a real mechanism and opens doors to support, but it doesn't excuse behavior or predict outcomes; it changes the question to what the brain needs, not whether standards apply
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter is explicit that a diagnosis does not mean the person is excused — it names a real mechanism and opens doors like accommodations and treatment, shifting the question from "why won't they?" to "what does this brain need?" rather than removing standards. Options A, B, and C all overstate the diagnosis as blanket exemption, which the chapter directly rejects.

Concept Tested: What A Diagnosis Means

See: Chapter 5

9. During an evaluation, a clinician asks only about the adult's current symptoms and skips any questions about childhood, report cards, or family history. Which component of a thorough evaluation is missing, and why does it matter?

  1. Collateral information, because a partner should always attend every session
  2. Neuropsychological testing, because it is required for every diagnosis
  3. The childhood history requirement, because DSM-5 requires evidence that several symptoms were present before age 12 to distinguish ADHD from a recent-onset problem
  4. The continuous performance test, because it is the most important instrument
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Skipping childhood history omits the evidence needed for the age-of-onset criterion, which distinguishes lifelong ADHD from a recently-developed problem with a different explanation. Option A misidentifies the missing piece as collateral information, which concerns present-day observers, not childhood evidence. Option B is wrong; the chapter states neuropsych testing is optional, not required. Option D wrongly elevates a single instrument the chapter treats as one data point among several.

Concept Tested: Childhood History Requirement

See: Chapter 5

10. A woman is treated for years for anxiety, but her symptoms don't fully improve. A careful re-evaluation eventually finds underlying, unrecognized ADHD driving much of the anxiety. Using this chapter's concept of differential diagnosis, what does this case best illustrate?

  1. Anxiety and ADHD can never occur in the same person
  2. Differential diagnosis is rarely either/or — conditions can co-occur or one can be downstream of another, so ruling alternatives in or out, and in what order, is central diagnostic work
  3. The original evaluation must have used a CPT, since that's the only way misdiagnosis happens
  4. Once a person is diagnosed with anxiety, ADHD can be safely ruled out permanently
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter describes differential diagnosis as rarely either/or — anxiety and ADHD can co-occur or one can be downstream of the other — so working out which condition is driving which struggle, and in what order to treat them, is the central diagnostic task, exactly as this case shows. Option A contradicts the chapter's explicit statement that ADHD and anxiety often co-occur. Option C invents a cause not stated in the case. Option D contradicts the entire point of ongoing differential diagnosis.

Concept Tested: Differential Diagnosis

See: Chapter 5