Free ADHD self-assessment: a DSM-5 symptom screener

What this test measures

If you just finished the questions above, this section explains what happened behind the scenes and what your result does and does not mean. If you have not started yet, reading this first can help you answer honestly rather than guessing at what a "good" or "bad" answer looks like. There is no good or bad answer here. There is only an accurate one. If a question felt abstract, our ADHD symptoms page walks through what each one actually looks like day to day, in adults, teens, and children.

This test is 18 items mirroring the DSM-5-TR ADHD symptom list: 9 inattention items and 9 hyperactivity-impulsivity items, each rated on a frequency scale from "Never" to "Very Often." It is based on the DSM-5-TR symptom criteria published by the American Psychiatric Association. It is not the ASRS, which is a different screener you may also see referenced elsewhere, and it has not undergone independent clinical validation. Nobody claims otherwise on this site, and if a screening tool elsewhere claims clinical validation, it is worth asking what study backs that claim.

The inattention items ask about things like sustaining focus during a task, following through on instructions, organizing materials, and being easily distracted. The hyperactivity-impulsivity items ask about things like fidgeting, feeling driven to move, talking excessively, interrupting others, and acting before thinking something through. Each item is worded to reflect one of the 18 symptom criteria published in the DSM-5-TR, so the test as a whole maps directly onto the published symptom list rather than a separate set of questions we invented.

How we score it

For each of the 18 questions, a response of "Often" or "Very Often" counts as a present symptom. The first 9 questions are summed as your inattention count, and the last 9 are summed as your hyperactivity-impulsivity count. Each count is then compared to a threshold: 6 symptoms for ages 16 and under, and 5 symptoms for ages 17 and older, matching the DSM-5-TR's own age-based threshold. If a cluster's count meets or exceeds that threshold, your results screen reports that cluster as meeting the DSM-5-TR symptom count. If it does not, the screen reports it as below the threshold. All of this happens in your browser; we do not store your individual answers on our servers. For the full breakdown, including exactly what the underlying code does, see our our method page.

How accurate is this test?

Here is the honest answer. This test counts how many of the 18 DSM-5-TR symptoms you rate as "Often" or "Very Often," then compares that count in each cluster to the DSM-5-TR's own age-based threshold. That is the entire method. It has not been through an independent validation study, so we are not going to claim a sensitivity or specificity figure for it, because we do not have one to cite honestly.

What it cannot measure is just as important as what it does. The DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria require four additional things beyond a symptom count, and this test evaluates none of them:

• Symptoms present for at least 6 months
• Several symptoms present before age 12
• Symptoms present in two or more settings
• Clear evidence that symptoms cause impairment in daily functioning

A result on this page tells you whether your reported symptom frequency lines up with a published threshold. It does not tell you whether you have ADHD. Only a clinician, working through all five parts of the DSM-5-TR criteria, can do that.

What it can and cannot tell you

The DSM-5-TR criteria for an ADHD diagnosis require more than a symptom count. In addition to meeting the threshold, the criteria also require:

• Symptoms present for at least 6 months
• Several symptoms present before age 12
• Symptoms present in two or more settings, such as home, school, work, or social situations
• Clear evidence that symptoms cause impairment in daily functioning

Our quiz does not measure any of these four things. It only asks about how often you currently experience each symptom. A result that meets the threshold is a signal worth discussing with a healthcare provider, not a diagnosis. A result below the threshold does not rule ADHD out either, since symptom frequency can vary and this test still does not evaluate the four criteria above.

Who this test is for

This test is written in general, everyday language meant to apply across teens and adults who are wondering whether their attention, organization, or activity level might be worth a closer look. It works for someone taking it about themselves, and for a parent who wants a structured starting point before talking with a pediatrician, though our parent-guided page walks through that use case in more detail. It is not a substitute for a clinical interview, and it is not written for very young children who cannot reliably self-report.

If you are a college student juggling a schedule with far less built-in structure than high school, or someone who has managed symptoms for years through routines and workarounds that recently stopped working, this test can still be a reasonable starting point. The same is true if you were evaluated for ADHD as a child, were never formally evaluated but have long suspected something was going on, or simply want a structured way to describe your experience before a first appointment. In every case, treat the result as a conversation starter rather than an answer.

The 18 symptoms this test screens

The test is split evenly: 9 inattention items and 9 hyperactivity-impulsivity items, mirroring the two DSM-5-TR symptom clusters.

Inattention (questions 1 to 9)

1. How often do you fail to give close attention to details or make careless mistakes in work or other activities?
2. How often do you have difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or activities?
3. How often do you seem not to listen when spoken to directly?
4. How often do you not follow through on instructions and fail to finish tasks?
5. How often do you have difficulty organizing tasks and activities?
6. How often do you avoid, dislike, or are reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort?
7. How often do you lose things necessary for tasks or activities?
8. How often are you easily distracted by external stimuli or unrelated thoughts?
9. How often are you forgetful in daily activities?

Hyperactivity-impulsivity (questions 10 to 18)

1. How often do you fidget with hands or feet or squirm in seat?
2. How often do you leave your seat in situations when remaining seated is expected?
3. How often do you feel restless or have difficulty staying still?
4. How often do you have difficulty engaging in leisure activities quietly?
5. How often do you feel 'on the go' or 'driven by a motor'?
6. How often do you talk excessively?
7. How often do you blurt out an answer before a question has been completed?
8. How often do you have difficulty waiting your turn?
9. How often do you interrupt or intrude on others?

Each cluster is scored on its own 0 to 9 symptom-count scale, shown below with the two age-based thresholds.

What to do with a result that meets the threshold

Treat a meets result as a reason to have a conversation, not as confirmation. Bring your specific answers, especially which items you rated Often or Very Often, to a primary care physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Mention how long you believe these patterns have been present, whether you remember similar patterns as a child, and whether they show up in more than one part of your life. Those are exactly the four things this test cannot measure, and a clinician can.

What to do with a result that is below the threshold

A below-threshold result means your reported symptom frequency did not reach the DSM-5-TR count for your age group on the day you took the test. It does not mean ADHD is ruled out. If you are still concerned, especially if your day-to-day difficulties feel significant, a conversation with a healthcare provider is still a reasonable next step. Self-report frequency is only one input into a real evaluation.

Why we describe it this way instead of claiming more

We could word this page to sound more authoritative than the test actually is. We are choosing not to, because a screening tool that quietly implies clinical weight it does not have can push someone toward false reassurance or unnecessary alarm. We would rather be precise about what a free, browser-based questionnaire can and cannot do, and point you toward a healthcare provider who can evaluate the parts we cannot: how long symptoms have been present, whether they showed up before age 12, whether they appear across more than one setting, and whether they cause real impairment. Those four questions are the difference between a symptom count and a diagnosis, and they are worth taking seriously either way your result comes back.

No clinician has reviewed this site or its test. It was built by Jack Squire, the founder of this site, who is not a clinician. We built the test directly from the published DSM-5-TR symptom criteria and have written out our exact scoring logic on our our method page so that anyone, including a clinician you eventually talk to, can check our work rather than take our word for it.

Frequently asked questions

Related resources

• ADHD Test for Adults
• Inattentive ADHD Test
• DSM-5 ADHD Criteria Explained
• Understanding Your Results
• Our Method