Mental health assessment
Free Adult ADHD Test (ASRS v1.1 Screener)
Take the six-question ADHD screener developed by the World Health Organization with Harvard Medical School. It is the most widely used first-step tool for adult ADHD, it takes about two minutes, and your answers never leave your device.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ASRS v1.1?
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale is a screening questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization with researchers at Harvard Medical School. The full checklist has 18 items matching the DSM-IV-TR criteria; the 6 questions used here are Part A, the subset found to be most predictive of adult ADHD, and they are what the ASRS Screener consists of.
How is the ASRS scored?
Unusually, it counts marks rather than summing frequencies. Each item has its own threshold: for the first three questions an answer of Sometimes or higher counts as one mark, for questions 4 and 5 it takes Often or higher, and question 6 counts only at Very Often. Four or more marks across the six questions is a positive screen.
Does a positive ASRS mean I have ADHD?
No. The WHO's own scoring guidance says a positive Part A means symptoms are highly consistent with adult ADHD and further investigation is warranted. Diagnosis requires a clinical assessment covering childhood onset, impact across multiple settings, and other conditions that can produce the same picture.
What about Part B of the checklist?
Part B contains the remaining 12 questions and is not offered here as a scored test, because the WHO states that no total score or diagnostic likelihood is derived from it. It is used clinically as additional probing material rather than as a measurement.
About this screening tool
The ASRS v1.1 was developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with Ronald Kessler and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, and was published in Psychological Medicine in 2005. It is free to use, and this implementation reproduces Part A with the WHO's own per-item scoring thresholds. This screener is provided for information and does not replace assessment by a qualified clinician.
References
- Kessler RC, Adler L, Ames M, et al. The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): a short screening scale for use in the general population. Psychological Medicine. 2005;35(2):245-256.
- World Health Organization. Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) Symptom Checklist. Harvard Medical School / WHO, 2003. Instrument record via NIH NIDA.
Your ASRS result in context
The ASRS was designed to be quick and sensitive, which is a deliberate trade. It is built to avoid missing people who should be assessed, and it accepts a higher rate of false positives to do so. In general population samples a meaningful share of people who screen positive turn out not to have ADHD on full assessment.
Two things account for most of that. Several of the items describe experiences that are close to universal under enough pressure, so a period of overload, poor sleep, or acute stress can push answers upward. And ADHD shares a great deal of surface with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, all of which degrade attention and increase restlessness.
This is why the instrument asks about the past six months rather than the past week. A pattern that appeared during one difficult month is a different thing from one that has been there for years, and the six-month frame is the first filter for that distinction.
How to bring this to a clinician
Adult ADHD assessment leans heavily on history, and the quality of that history is largely what determines whether an appointment is productive. A screening result on its own gives a clinician very little to work with.
- Bring evidence of childhood onset if you can find it. School reports, old reports from teachers, and a parent's recollection all count. Diagnosis requires that symptoms were present before age 12.
- Write down three or four concrete incidents from the past year rather than describing yourself in general terms. A missed deadline with consequences is more useful than 'I am disorganised'.
- List what you have already tried, including systems, apps, and medication, and say what happened with each.
- Mention sleep, alcohol, caffeine, and any other medicines you take. Each can produce or worsen the same picture and a clinician has to rule them in or out.
- Say what you want from the assessment. Diagnosis, accommodations at work or in study, and medication are different goals with different pathways.
If you have already been assessed and the outcome did not fit your experience, it is reasonable to ask what was considered and why. Adult ADHD is under-recognised in women and in adults who did well academically, and both groups are frequently missed on a first pass.
Other screens you might also take
Attention problems overlap heavily with mood, anxiety, and sleep. These brief screens can help separate what is driving what.