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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): parents’ judgment about school, teachers’ judgment about home

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Abstract.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to separate sources of observer and situational variance in reporting attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology.

Method:

In a sample of 30 children diagnosed with ADHD, ADHD symptomatology was assessed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children–Parent Version (DISC-P), with parents and teachers as informants. Both parents and teachers reported about the child’s ADHD symptomatology at home as well as at school.

Results:

Parents and teachers showed high within-observer cross-situational presence of ADHD symptoms. However, the between-observer agreement on the presence of ADHD symptoms within the same situation (home or school) was low. This pattern held equally true for attention/concentration and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom scores.

Conclusions:

In evaluating ADHD symptomatology, it is important to obtain independent reports about the child’s behaviour at school from the teacher and about the child’s behaviour at home from the parents.

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Abbreviations

P:

parent

T:

teacher

H:

home

S:

school

PH:

parents’ ratings about home

PS:

parents’ ratings about school

TS:

teachers’ ratings about school

TH:

teachers’ ratings about home

AC:

attention/concentration

HI:

hyperactivity/impulsivity

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Outpatients’ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital, 2060, 3000, CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Pieter F. A de Nijs BA, MD, Robert F. Ferdinand MD, PhD, Esther I. de Bruin MA & Duijn C. Verhulst MD, PhD

  2. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Erasmus Medical Center, 1738, 3000, DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Marieke C. J. Dekker MD & Cornelia M. van Duijn MSc, PhD

Authors
  1. Pieter F. A de Nijs BA, MD
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  2. Robert F. Ferdinand MD, PhD
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  3. Esther I. de Bruin MA
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  4. Marieke C. J. Dekker MD
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  5. Cornelia M. van Duijn MSc, PhD
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  6. Duijn C. Verhulst MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pieter F. A de Nijs BA, MD.

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de Nijs, P.F.A., Ferdinand, R.F., de Bruin, E.I. et al. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): parents’ judgment about school, teachers’ judgment about home. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 13, 315–320 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-0405-z

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