This study examined differential symptom functioning (DSF) in ADHD symptoms across Malay and Chinese children in Malaysia. Malay (N=571) and Chinese (N=254) parents completed the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale, which lists the DSM-IV ADHD symptoms. DSF was examined using the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) structural equation modeling procedure. Although DSF was found for a single inattention (IA) symptom and three hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) symptoms, all these differences had low effect sizes. Controlling for these DSF, Chinese children had higher IA and HI latent factor scores. However the effect sizes were small. Together, these findings suggest adequate support for invariance of the ADHD symptoms across these ethno-cultural groups. The implications of the findings for cross-cultural invariance of the ADHD symptoms are discussed.
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to model a multitrait by multisource matrix to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of measures of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in 917 Malaysian elementary school children. The three trait factors were ADHD-IN, ADHDHI, and ODD. The two source factors were parents and teachers. Similar to earlier studies with Australian and Brazilian children, the parent and teacher measures failed to show convergent and discriminant validity with Malaysian children. The study outlines the implications of such strong source effects in ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI, and ODD measures for the use of such parent and teacher scales to study the symptom dimensions.