Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Informants tend to provide discrepant ratings of child behavior, which can complicate the process of assessing behavior problems in children. The present study evaluated parent and teacher ratings of child externalizing behavior problems, as well as ratings of attention problems, hyperactivity, and aggression, to understand the degree of influence that various factors have on these ratings. A variety of demographic factors (i.e., child age, family income, child ethnicity, parent mental health), parenting and parent-child relationship variables (i.e., attachment, involvement, relational frustration, parenting stress) and school-related factors (i.e., length of time the teacher has known the child, child academic performance) were considered. Specifically, it was predicted that these variables would be significant predictors of discrepancies in parent and teacher ratings of child externalizing behavior. Based on a sample of 188 participants, parent ratings of relational frustration and parenting stress were found to be the strongest predictors of parent-teacher discrepancies across the four areas examined, with greater levels of relational frustration and parenting stress predicting greater differences. Child academic performance was significant or trended toward significance in three of the four models, with greater agreement for ratings of children with lower academic performance. Child age also emerged as a significant predictor or trended toward significance in two of the four models. Findings revealed a tendency for teachers to rate ethnic minority children as displaying more aggressive behavior than Caucasian children; however, ethnicity did not significantly predict the extent of parent-teacher differences. Results suggest that parents who report more parenting stress produce more severe ratings of child behavior problems as compared to teachers. Results also highlight the importance of considering demographic factors (e.g., child age, ethnicity) when understanding informant discrepancies. The current research contributes to the understanding of how a variety of demographic, parenting, and school-related factors contribute to informant discrepancies and has implications for better understanding rater discrepancies in the assessment of ADHD.

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