Parent and teacher agreement in the assessment of pervasive developmental disorders

Abstract

Although it is well known that informants often disagree about the degree of psychopathology in children, this issue has not been systematically evaluated in children with autism. The objective of this paper is to estimate the extent of agreement between parents and teachers on the assessment of autistic symptoms and adaptive behavior skills. We assessed 83 children, 4-6 years of age, with a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), using the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Parents and teachers rated each child on each measure. While there was good agreement between informants on the VABS, teachers tended to rate the PDD children higher than parents. In contrast, there was virtually no agreement on the ABC. High levels of stress experienced by parents appeared to be associated with parents reporting more autistic behaviors and less adaptive skills than teachers. As with other child psychiatric disorders, caution must be exercised in combining information from several informants.

High Concordance of Parent and Teacher Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Ratings in Medicated and Unmedicated Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Parents and teachers of elementary school age children have been found to have higher agreement regarding behavioral functioning than do parents and teachers of either preschoolers or older adolescents, perhaps reflecting the fact that elementary school age children spend more time with both sets of these informants than do younger or older children (Achenbach et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1994). Discrepancies between parents and teachers have been noted in both internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Tassé and Lecavalier 2000).…”

“…Some studies have linked parent-teacher discrepancies to divergent informant perspectives, and to discontinuity in context across settings (Achenbach et al 1987;Szatmari et al 1994;Tassé and Lecavalier 2000;Hartman et al 2007). Szatmari et al (1994) noted that classrooms are often more structured and have more resources for managing behavior (e.g., aides).…”

Evidence-Based Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children and Adolescents

“…When information on a child is collected from multiple sources, there may be disagreements in reports of the severity of the disorder, the level of daily adaptive behaviors, and the level of compliance or disruptive behaviors (Offord et al, 1996;Szatmari, Archer, Fisman, & Streiner, 1994). High levels of stress experienced by families appear to contribute to higher parent than teacher reports of autistic behavior (Szatmari et al, 1994).…”

“…High levels of stress experienced by families appear to contribute to higher parent than teacher reports of autistic behavior (Szatmari et al, 1994). Because these well-known discrepancies exist and may well reflect setting-dependent expression of symptoms, our recommendation is to conceptualize them as separate types of information, without attempting to reconcile them by considering one more or less accurate than another, as suggested by Offord et al (1996).…”

When does the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) predict autism spectrum disorders in primary school-aged children?

“…Agreement between informants has been studied not only in general child psychiatric symptoms, but also in autistic features [19,24]. Szatmari et al [24] reported slight agreement between parents' and teachers' ratings (r = 0.17) in the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC; [13]) when assessing children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). The results were suggested to be partly explained by real differences in behaviour at school and at home.…”