ADHD-specific knowledge and attitudes of teachers (ASKAT): Development and validation of a new research instrument

•Limited valid research instruments that investigate teacher attitudes of ADHD exist.•The ADHD-specific knowledge and attitudes of teachers (ASKAT) is developed.•The ASKAT is based on non-traditional more comprehensive framework of attitude.•The ASKAT was found to be a valid and generalisable research instrument.

Currently there are few valid and reliable research instruments that investigate the knowledge and attitudes teachers hold towards ADHD, and of the studies that investigate teacher ADHD-specfic attitudes, most do little more than examine false factual information that teachers believe to be true (Kos, Richdale, & Hay, 2006; Mulholland, Cumming, & Jung, 2015). There is, therefore, a strong need for the development and validation of a research instrument that investigates teacher ADHD-specific knowledge and attitudes. This article outlines the development and validation of a new research instrument, the ADHD-specific knowledge and attitudes of teachers (ASKAT), consisting of two scales, the scale for ADHD-specific knowledge (SASK) and the scale for ADHD-specific attitudes (SASA).