Psychometric Properties of Teacher SKAMP Ratings From a Community Sample

Abstract

This study examines the basic psychometric properties of the Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M-Flynn, and Pelham Scale (SKAMP), a measure intended to assess functional impairment related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in a sample of 1,205 elementary students. Reliability, factor structure, and convergent, discriminant and predictive validity are evaluated. Results provide support for two separate but related subscales, Attention and Deportment, and provide evidence that the SKAMP predicts school functioning above and beyond symptoms alone. Boys, African American children, and children living in poverty are rated as having higher impairment scores than girls, Caucasian children, and more advantaged peers. Norm-referenced data are provided by gender, race, and parental concern level. This study supports the reliability and validity of the SKAMP in a large, diverse community sample and broadens its clinical utility. Keywords ADHD; teacher ratings; impairment; psychometricsA number of rating scales have been developed and validated for assessing symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that are helpful in informing diagnostic decision making and detecting behavioral changes over time (Collett, Ohan, & Myers, 2003). However, increased attention is being directed at the assessment of impairment, reflecting how a child functions across different domains of day-to-day activities. Although symptoms and impairment overlap, these constructs may be distinguished conceptually in that symptoms and their severity are thought to describe disorders, whereas functional impairment represents a

Assessing ADHD symptomatic behaviors and functional impairment in school settings: Impact of student and teacher characteristics.

“…The findings confirm the results of previous studies indicating that severity of ADHD (DuPaul et al, 1997) and level of symptom-related impairment (Evans et al, 2013;Murray et al, 2009) are associated with student age and gender. Higher teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms and impairments were inversely related to child age with small, but clinically important effect sizes.…”

“…Boys, younger children, and Black students received significantly higher symptom ratings than girls, older children and adoles cents, and White students. In similar fashion, boys, Black children, and younger students have been found to receive significantly higher ratings of ADHD-related impairment from both elementary (Murray et al, 2009) and secondary (Evans et al, 2013) teachers. Prior studies have also found higher ADHD symptom prevalence among students in special education relative to those in general education (e.g., Schnoes et al, 2006).…”

Generating Attention, Inhibition, and Memory: A Pilot Randomized Trial for Preschoolers With Executive Functioning Deficits

“…Two subscales are derived (Attention and Deportment) by averaging items in each domain. Internal consistency is high (McBurnett et al, 1997; Murray et al, 2009), and there is evidence of divergent (McBurnett et al, 1997) and predictive (Murray et al, 2009) validity. In our sample, internal consistency was good (Attention α = .87, Deportment α = .85).…”

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in African American Youth

“…Several recent studies have dealt with teacher rating of ADHD, with a higher rating for African Americans than for Caucasian students. A study that assessed the functional impairment related to ADHD by examining the SKAMP (Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, Mylnn, and Pelham) rating reported that boys, African American children, and children living in poverty have more impairment than girls, Caucasian children, and more advantaged peers [37]. Parent and teacher SNAP-IV (Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham) ratings of ADHD were also conducted by Bussing et al [38] and supported higher scores for African American children in the ADHD detection study.…”