Adult Ratings of Child ADHD Symptoms: Importance of Race, Role, and Context

Diagnostic assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children necessarily involves subjective judgements about the severity, frequency, and impact of symptoms on the part of parents, teachers, and clinicians. Thus, it is possible that parent and teacher ratings may be discrepant as a function of child and adult respondent race, adult role (i.e., parent or teacher), and environmental context (e.g., classroom vs. home). In order to fully understand racial differences in ADHD symptom ratings, it is important to disentangle the relative contributions of these factors. This commentary discusses the results of the Kang and Harvey (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology,2019) study in relation to race, role, and context. Specific contributions of this study as well as unanswered questions to consider when interpreting their findings are delineated. Recommendations for future research to investigate the relative contributions of race, role, and context in accounting for racial differences in parent-teacher ADHD symptom ratings along with implications for assessment practice are discussed.