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An Evaluation of Parent and Teacher Discrepancies on an Adaptive Behavior Measure for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Global Developmental Delay

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Abstract

Comprehensive evaluations include data from multiple informants, but discrepancies occur on adaptive skill measures of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID). This study investigated discrepancies between parent-teacher ratings on a measure of adaptive behavior [Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Third Edition (ABAS-3)] in a clinical sample of 115 youth. Agreement between informants was determined and then discrepancies were identified using paired-sample t-tests for the whole sample and subsamples. Factors associated with parent-teacher discrepancies were investigated including age, diagnoses, IQ, autism symptomology, and parent education. Parent-teacher scores were moderately correlated for the ABAS-3 composite and domains. Teachers rated youth with ASD and ID as having higher adaptive skills. Autism symptomology significantly predicted discrepancies between informants on the ABAS-3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, 16 Hill Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Mallory A. Stevens

  2. Department of Special Education, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Kimberly J. Selders

  3. Department of Psychological Services, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Olivia Jeckel

  4. Department of Public Health, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Valerie Brownfield

  5. Department of Health Psychology, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorder, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Kerri P. Nowell

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  1. Mallory A. Stevens
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  2. Kimberly J. Selders
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  3. Olivia Jeckel
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  4. Valerie Brownfield
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  5. Kerri P. Nowell
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Contributions

All the listed authors made a significant contribution to the study. Stevens led and coordinated the current study’s conceptualization, method, data collection and analysis, as well as ran the analyses, created the tables and figures, and contributed to each section within the manuscript. Selders supported the data collection and organization, contributed to several sections of the manuscript, and participated in the revision process. Jeckel contributed to data collection and organization, the introduction, and participated in the revision process. Brownfield contributed to data collection and organization. Nowell contributed to the manuscript by providing supervision throughout the study timeline (in the initial conceptualization of the study, data analysis plan, etc.) and reviewed the final draft of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mallory A. Stevens.

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Stevens, M.A., Selders, K.J., Jeckel, O. et al. An Evaluation of Parent and Teacher Discrepancies on an Adaptive Behavior Measure for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Global Developmental Delay. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 2818–2834 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05550-x

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