Introduction: The Wender-Utah Rating Scale (WURS) has been used for retrospective screening of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) symptoms and its comorbidities.
Aim: To establish the ADHD behavioral phenotype dimensions of adults from 140 Antioquian families with genetic segregation for ADHD diagnosis, using the WURS -Spanish version.
Subjects and methods: 392 adults from both genders, belonging to nuclear and multigenerational families with one or more ADHD affected members were selected. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for mental disorder was administered to establish the gold standard diagnosis of ADHD through the long life. All participants fulfill the WURS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were done to determine the behavioral dimensions of the ADHD phenotype.
Results: A factor structure of four dimensions was derived, measuring behavioral decontrol, hyperactivity, inattention and anxiety, and which explained the 60% of the total variance.
Conclusions: The behavioral adult ADHD phenotype in the Antioquian families was conformed by four dimensions, which could be used in heritability and linkage future studies.