Psychometric Qualities of a Dimensional Self-Regulation Questionnaire in Ambulatory Assessment – Reliability and Validity of the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal Behavior (SWAN) Scales in the Daily Life of Young Adults

Self-regulation of cognition and behavior is an important ability in the daily life of humans (Robson et al., 2020). Individuals with higher self-regulation show higher vocational success, indicate more positive health behavior, and have more positive social relationships (McClelland et al., 2013; Sciberras et al., 2009). When a person shows a pronounced deficiency of self-regulation, the diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) might be appropriate (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). While earlier theory used a categorical system to classify people with and without ADHD into different groups, currently the dimensional view which arranges people on a scale from very high to very low self-regulation receives more scientific evidence (Coghill & Sonuga-Barke, 2012; Frazier et al., 2007). This individual ability in self-regulation might be measured with dimensional questionnaires like the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal Behavior (SWAN) Scales (Blume et al., 2020). The SWAN scales have been applied in versions of self- and observer report for children and adults in numerous languages and shown good validity and reliability. Additionally, the SWAN scales can be divided into two subscales, measuring the core symptoms of ADHD, inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. For some time now, research has shown that self-regulation does not only differ between people but also fluctuates within individuals over time (Leonard et al., 2021; Schmid et al., 2020). The expression of these core symptoms might be associated with different precursors and antecedents in the daily life of individuals (Buhr et al., 2022).The new golden standard to depict these fluctuations is the measurement technique ambulatory assessment, where scales are repeatedly presented to individuals in their daily life on technical devices like smartphones or tablets (Koch et al., 2021). While ambulatory assessment allows for many innovative research questions to be explored, it requires valid and reliable scales which capture variance between as well as within individuals (Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2019). Dimensional scales might be a helpful tool to capture these variances on both, the negative as well as the positive end of the continuum. Since in psychological theory the constructs self-regulation and self-control are often used interchangeably (Carver & Scheier, 2011), a valid measure of self-regulation should be significantly associated with widely applied scales of self-regulation both on the trait as well as on the state level. In the current study, we are applying the SWAN scales in ambulatory assessment to explore their psychometric quality, convergent validity with self-control scales, and reliability in measuring between- and within-person differences of self-regulation in the daily life of adults.