The Child Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Teacher Telephone Interview (CHATTI): reliability and validity

BACKGROUND: The ICD-10 and DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for hyperkinetic disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) require symptoms or impairment in two or more settings. Thus, information on children's symptoms in school is usually required. This paper presents the Child ADHD Teacher Telephone Interview (CHATTI), an instrument aimed at systematically obtaining this information. AIMS: To examine the stability, test-retest reliability and criterion validity of the CHATTI for children referred with a suspected diagnosis of ADHD. METHOD: Data were obtained from 79 teachers, of whom 36 were interviewed on two occasions. RESULTS: Overall, the CHATTI shows good stability, test-retest reliability and criterion validity for symptom scores. Test-retest reliability for some individual items was low. Reliability for the operationalised criteria of 'pervasiveness' (i.e. symptoms at school and home) and 'school impairment' was excellent (kappa=1). CONCLUSIONS: The CHATTI appears to be a promising tool for assessing ADHD symptoms in a school setting and could be useful in clinical as well as research settings.