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The Role of Parenting Stress in Discrepancies Between Parent and Teacher Ratings of Behavior Problems in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

The study assessed whether teacher and parent ratings of child behavior problems were similar for children with autism spectrum disorders. Two informants rated child behaviors in the same home environment, and the degree to which parenting stress impacted the similarity of the ratings was assessed. Overall behavior problem ratings did not differ between groups, but there was poor correspondence between the ratings for individual children, stress did not impact markedly on the discrepancies. Parent–teacher discrepancies in behavior ratings cannot be attributed entirely to differences in the assessment–environment, and there was little evidence of widespread impacts of parenting stress on these discrepant ratings. It was suggested that attention is needed in terms of the teacher characteristics when explaining such results.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the kind participation of the children in this research, and we thank them very much for their time and involvement. Thanks are also due to the parents of the children who kindly participated.

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Correspondence to Phil Reed.

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Reed, P., Osborne, L.A. The Role of Parenting Stress in Discrepancies Between Parent and Teacher Ratings of Behavior Problems in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 471–477 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1594-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1594-9

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