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Factors Related to Agreement between Parent and Teacher Ratings of Children’s ADHD Symptoms: an Exploratory Study Using Polynomial Regression Analyses

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Abstract

Inter-rater agreement about children’s symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is crucial for accurately identifying and treating children with this condition. Decades of empirical research demonstrate that parents and teachers rarely agree about children’s ADHD symptoms, yet few studies have tested the factors that relate to parent-teacher agreement. This exploratory study examined potential associations between parent-teacher agreement about child ADHD symptoms, and child factors (academic functioning, demographic characteristics, externalizing psychopathology, and social functioning), in a community (n = 752; mean age = 7.28; 51.3% male; 46.5% White) and in a clinical (n = 213; mean age = 8.58; 69.0% male; 70.4% White) sample. Agreement was examined using polynomial regression analyses, which overcome mathematical limitations and constraints imposed by using difference scores. Parent-teacher agreement about ADHD symptoms related to several academic and social functioning variables in the community sample. Most relationships were non-linear (e.g., quadratic, cubic). The 3-dimensional distribution of the results revealed that parent-teacher agreement was strongest for children functioning approximately 1 standard deviation below the mean (but not lower) on grades, academic enablers, academic performance, and social functioning. In the clinical sample, only teacher-rated social functioning related to parent-teacher agreement about ADHD symptoms. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of parent-teacher agreement, thereby advancing theoretical knowledge. An implication for assessment and treatment is that children with very poor, or conversely, very good, social and academic functioning are at risk for parent-teacher disagreement on ADHD symptom ratings.

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Funding

Funding was provided by the Institute of Education Sciences Grant R324A160053 (Study 1), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Grant 285413 (Study 2), and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award (Study 2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, BC, Canada

    Boaz Y. Saffer, Amori Yee Mikami & Hongyuan Qi

  2. Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Julie Sarno Owens

  3. Département de Psychoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, Canada

    Sébastien Normand

  4. Institut du Savoir Montfort, Hôpital Montfort, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Sébastien Normand

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  1. Boaz Y. Saffer
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  5. Sébastien Normand
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Correspondence to Amori Yee Mikami.

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Informed consent was obtained for all adult participants in the study. For children, written informed consent was obtained from the children’s legal guardians and assent was obtained from the individual children.

Research Involving Human Participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The studies were also approved by the research ethics boards at the participating universities and the school districts where participants were recruited. The article does not contain any studies with animals as subjects.

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Boaz Saffer, Amori Mikami, Hongyuan Qi, Julie Owens, and Sébastien Normand declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Experiment Participants

This study included human subject participants. The current study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards for human subjects research.

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Saffer, B.Y., Mikami, A.Y., Qi, H. et al. Factors Related to Agreement between Parent and Teacher Ratings of Children’s ADHD Symptoms: an Exploratory Study Using Polynomial Regression Analyses. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 43, 793–807 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-021-09892-1

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