Development and psychometric assessment of the collaborative care for attention-deficit disorders scale.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and assess the validity and reliability of the Collaborative Care for Attention-Deficit Disorders Scale (CCADDS), a measure of collaborative care processes for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder who attend primary care practices. METHODS: Collaborative care was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct. The 41-item CCADDS was developed from an existing instrument, review of the literature, focus groups, and an expert panel. The CCADDS was field tested in a national mail survey of 600 stratified and randomly selected practicing general pediatricians. Psychometric analysis included assessments of factor structure, construct validity, and internal consistency. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 51%. Most respondents were male (56%), 46 years old or older (59%), and white (69%). Common factor analysis identified 3 subscales: beliefs, collaborative activities, and connectedness. Internal consistency reliability (coefficient alpha) for the overall scale was .91, and subscale scores ranged from .80 to .89. The CCADDS correlated with a validated measure of provider psychosocial orientation (r = -.36, P < .001) and with self-reported frequency of mental health referrals or consultations (r = -.24 to -.42, P < .001). CCADDS scores were similar among physicians by race/ethnicity, gender, age group, and practice location. CONCLUSIONS: Scores on the CCADDS were reliable for measuring collaborative care processes in this sample of primary care clinicians who provide treatment for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Evidence for validity of scores was limited. Future research is needed to confirm its psychometric properties and factor structure and provide guidance on score interpretation.