# Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Quick Delay Questionnaire (C-QDQ) and ecological characteristics of reward-delay impulsivity of adults with ADHD

## TL;DR

This study validates a Chinese version of a questionnaire that measures delay-related impulsivity in adults with ADHD and finds that ADHD patients show higher impulsivity than healthy controls.

## Contribution

The study provides psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the QDQ and explores its ecological relevance in Chinese adults with ADHD.

## Key findings

- The C-QDQ showed good reliability with Cronbach’s α between 0.83 and 0.89.
- ADHD participants had higher C-QDQ scores than healthy controls, indicating greater delay-related impulsivity.
- Female ADHD participants reported higher delay discounting than males, and ADHD-combined type showed higher delay aversion.

## Abstract

The Quick Delay Questionnaire (QDQ) is a short questionnaire designed to assess delay-related difficulties in adults. This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the QDQ (C-QDQ) in Chinese adults, and explore the ecological characteristics of delay-related impulsivity in Chinese adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Data was collected from 302 adults, including ADHD (n = 209) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 93). All participants completed the C-QDQ. The convergent validity, internal consistency, retest reliability and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the C-QDQ were analyzed. The correlations between C-QDQ and two laboratory measures of delay-related difficulties and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the comparison of C-QDQ scores between ADHD subgroups and HCs were also analyzed.

The Cronbach’s α of C-QDQ was between 0.83 and 0.89. The intraclass correlation coefficient of C-QDQ was between 0.80 and 0.83. The results of CFA of C-QDQ favoured the original two-factor model (delay aversion and delay discounting). Significant positive associations were found between C-QDQ scores and BIS-11 total score and performance on the laboratory measure of delay-related difficulties. Participants with ADHD had higher C-QDQ scores than HCs, and female ADHD reported higher scores on delay discounting subscale than male. ADHD-combined type (ADHD-C) reported higher scores on delay aversion subscale than ADHD-inattention type (ADHD-I).

The C-QDQ is a valid and reliable tool to measure delay-related responses that appears to have clinical utility. It can present the delay-related impulsivity of patients with ADHD. Compared to HCs, the level of reward-delay impulsivity was higher in ADHD.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-024-05706-2.