Meta-Analysis on Parent–Teacher Agreement on Preschoolers’ Emotional and Behavioural Problems

Abstract

Based on a meta-analysis, this study aimed to examine cross-informant agreement between parents and teachers about Internalizing, Externalizing and Total Problems in preschool children using community and clinical samples and to test the effects of the type of sample, the measure used for assessments, and child sex on agreement between informants. The meta-analysis involved 23 studies assessing cross-informant agreement for preschool children. Informants were parents and teachers. The level of cross-informant agreement tended to be low. Meta-regression analyses showed that the child's sex, the type of sample, and the measure used for assessments did not predict the level of cross-informant agreement on emotional and behavioural problems. The findings were in line with previous research results. Furthermore, the studied variables did not contribute to the prediction of agreement, suggesting the development of further studies that focus on other variables that may interfere with agreement in informants' reports and will contribute to explaining different ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool-aged children.

Conceptual, methodological, and measurement factors that disqualify use of measurement invariance techniques to detect informant discrepancies in youth mental health assessments

“…Consider some validation tests focused on interpreting informant discrepancies. Recent meta-analyses show that parent and teacher reports of preschool children’s disruptive behavior display low-to-moderate levels of correspondence ( Carneiro et al, 2021 ). Prior studies also highlight that parent-teacher dyads display considerable heterogeneity in patterns of reporting across developmental periods, as some dyads disagree in their reports, whereas other dyads agree (see Fergusson et al, 2009 ; Lerner et al, 2017 ; Sulik et al, 2017 ; Makol et al, 2021 ).…”

Factors associated with parent-teacher hyperactivity/inattention screening discrepancy: Findings from a UK national sample

“…Parent-teacher rating discrepancy is one of the common dilemmas that clinicians face in practice. This is no surprise to observe low to moderate levels of correlations among informants in all forms of paediatric psychopathology [7][8][9]. There is no exception for hyperactivity/inattention problems for this phenomenon regardless of tools that applied: parent-teacher agreement correlations are usually low-to-moderate.…”

PISTACHIo (PreemptIon of diSrupTive behAvior in CHIldren): real-time monitoring of sleep and behavior of children 3–7 years old receiving parent–child interaction therapy augment with artificial intelligence — the study protocol, pilot study

“…Child behavior often differs depending on the situation and setting. In addition, different informants may elicit different behaviors from the same child, they may differ in their opinions regarding what is considered a significant tantrum and what is not, and they also may interpret the same behavior in different ways [ 10 ]. Clinicians rely on a brief period of observation of the child in an artificial environment of their office that is not always reflective of the child’s behavior at home and/or school.…”