Predictors of discrepancies between informants’ ratings of preschool-aged children's behavior: An examination of ethnicity, child characteristics, and family functioning

Highlights

• We examined factors that predicted discrepancies between raters of child behavior.

• Ethnicity predicted discrepancies between parents and teachers.

• Parent depression partially mediated relations between ethnicity and discrepancy.

• ADHD/ODD diagnoses, family size, and academic skills also predicted discrepancy.

Abstract

The present study examined predictors of discrepancies between mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ ratings of 3-year-old children's hyperactivity, attention problems, and aggression. Participants were families of 196 3-year-old children who took part in child and family assessments. Ethnicity was one of the most consistent predictors of discrepancies. African American mothers and fathers were more likely to rate their children's hyperactivity, attention problems, and aggression lower than teachers. In contrast, Latina mothers were more likely to rate their children as more hyperactive and inattentive than teachers. ADHD/ODD diagnoses, parental depression, number of children, and children's pre-academic skills were also predictive of discrepancies for some measures for some informants. These findings provide insight into factors that may contribute to informant discrepancies in ratings of preschool children.

Introduction

Although there is wide consensus regarding the importance of gathering data from multiple informants in the assessment of child psychopathology (Grills & Ollendick, 2002), there is a large body of research documenting discrepancies among informants’ reports (Achenbach et al., 1987, De Los Reyes and Kazdin, 2005, Sims and Lonigan, 2012). Moreover, there is growing evidence that these discrepancies represent more than just measurement error (De Los Reyes, 2011). Identifying factors that contribute to cross-informant discrepancies may provide insight into why variability across raters occurs and guide practitioners when they face discrepant assessment data. Despite a burgeoning body of research on this topic, several important gaps remain.

In an increasingly diverse society, one of the most glaring gaps in the literature is a lack of understanding of the role that culture may play in explaining disagreement between informants. Cross-cultural differences in ratings of child behavior have been well-documented (Achenbach & Resclora, 2007), suggesting that cultural differences could account for informant discrepancies when informants are from different cultures. The cultural context within which ratings are made may affect how children behave in different settings and how informants perceive the same behavior, both of which likely contribute to differences in ratings.

Another important gap in the literature is the relative lack of attention to predictors of discrepancies between mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ ratings of preschoolers, particularly with respect to identifying paternal characteristics that predict disagreement. Studies of predictors of discrepancies have tended to focus on caregiver-youth discrepancies and on ratings of older children and adolescents (De Los Reyes et al., 2011, De Los Reyes et al., 2008). Inconsistencies in ratings of preschoolers’ behavior may have different correlates than for older children, in part because adults are likely to have different attributions and expectations for preschoolers than for older children (De Los Reyes and Kazdin, 2005, van der Ende et al., 2012) and in part because inconsistencies may be due to developmentally based behavior problems in preschoolers (Campbell, 1995) that may manifest more in some settings than in others. A few studies have made important steps in identifying predictors of mother–teacher (Crane et al., 2011, Dinnebeil et al., 2013, Phillips and Lonigan, 2010) and mother–father discrepancies (Dave, Nazareth, Senior, & Sherr, 2008) among preschoolers. However, these studies have not specifically examined predictors of father–teacher discrepancies, and have examined only a handful of predictors (demographic variables and measures of children's ability) of mother–teacher discrepancies.

A third critical gap is the paucity of research on predictors of discrepant ratings of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms (Chi and Hinshaw, 2002, Collishaw et al., 2009, Dave et al., 2008, Edelbrock et al., 1986, Langberg et al., 2010, Phillips and Lonigan, 2010, Van der Oord et al., 2006). There is some evidence that predictors of hyperactivity and inattention may differ from predictors of disruptive behavior (Langberg et al., 2010); understanding factors that account for differences in ratings of hyperactivity and inattention are key to informing ADHD assessments.

The present study seeks to address these gaps by examining predictors of discrepancies between mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ reports of preschoolers’ hyperactivity, inattention, and aggression. This study examines a number of child and family factors that are likely to play an important role in informant discrepancies, but particularly focuses on ethnicity, a critically understudied variable. Gaining a better understanding of these factors may be particularly useful in guiding the interpretation of multi-method assessments of attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorders in preschoolers from diverse backgrounds, which may be increasingly common with the recent extension of guidelines for diagnosing ADHD down to age 4 (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2011).

Theoretical models have posited that an informant's ratings of a child's symptoms are affected by the trait underlying the symptoms, the context (which affects symptom expression), characteristics of the informant that shape the informant's perspective, and error (Dumenci et al., 2010, Kraemer et al., 2003). Whereas the first of these factors underlies agreement among informants, the remaining three are likely to contribute to informant discrepancies. At least three lines of research provide support for the role of contextual differences in contributing to informant disagreement. First, greater discrepancies have been documented between parents and teachers than between mothers and fathers (Achenbach et al., 1987), suggesting that children may behave differently at home than at school. Second, variability in behavior across different contexts is associated with parent–teacher discrepancies (De Los Reyes, Henry, Tolan, & Wakschlag, 2009). Third, teachers’ reports, but not parents’ reports, have been associated with classroom observations (Winsler & Wallace, 2002). In addition, the importance of informants’ subjective perspectives in contributing to informant discrepancies has been supported by theoretical models that highlight informants’ attributions, perspectives, and goals (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005); research documenting differences across raters of the same behavior in the same context (Domínguez de Ramírez & Shapiro, 2005); and research suggesting that adults may vary in their awareness of their children's symptoms (Mesman & Koot, 2000). It can be difficult to tease apart whether two informants differ because the observed behavior differs across settings or because of differences in perception of the same behavior. Nonetheless, both mechanisms point to a variety of factors that may contribute to informant discrepancies, including culture, child characteristics, and family functioning.

The cultural context of the child and informant may play a pivotal role in discrepant ratings. Culture refers to shared norms, beliefs, values, and customs that are transmitted intergenerationally (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993). Because people from different cultures vary in their standards for conduct, behavior and perceptions of behavior are likely to vary across cultures (Achenbach & Resclora, 2007). Directly measuring the shared values, beliefs, and standards of behavior that constitute culture can be difficult, which often leads researchers to use ethnicity as a proxy for culture. Although this approach is imperfect because there are many aspects of culture that are shared across ethnic groups and there is great variability within ethnic groups, it represents a starting point for understanding cultural influences.

Ethnic differences in behavior and perceptions of behavior are likely to be determined by the broad set of values that are commonly held by their culture. For example, whereas the European American culture has consistently been described as an individualistic culture (Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 1988), Latino cultures have been argued to have a more interdependent view, with an emphasis on respeto (proper demeanor) and familismo (an emphasis on the importance of family; Harwood, Leyendecker, Carlson, Asencio, & Miller, 2002). Similarly, extended kin networks, cooperation, spirituality, and movement expressiveness may be common values among African American families (Hill, 2001, Neal et al., 2003, Stewart, 2004). In the United States, Latino and African American individuals have also experienced a history of discrimination and oppression, which in turn can affect well-being (Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009). These broad cultural values and experiences of discrimination may result in different socialization goals and practices (Pagano, Hirsch, Deutsch, & McAdams, 2002), which in turn may affect children's behavior and adults’ expectations for and perceptions of children.

Not surprisingly, ethnicity has not been linked to informant discrepancies when informants are likely of the same ethnicity (e.g., mothers and fathers; Duhig et al., 2000, Langberg et al., 2010). However, studies on parent–teacher discrepancies have yielded more ethnic differences. Parent–teacher discrepancies in ratings of preschool children's self-control have been found to be higher among African American than Latino parents (Crane et al., 2011). Similarly, although teachers’ ratings were typically lower than parents’ ratings of adolescents, this was significantly less true for African American adolescents than for White (Lau et al., 2004, Youngstrom et al., 2000), Latino, or Asian adolescents (Lau et al., 2004). In contrast, Kolko and Kazdin (1993) and Dinnebeil et al. (2013) did not find a link between ethnicity and parent–teacher informant discrepancies, although the latter study combined children from diverse ethnic backgrounds, which may have masked effects. Research has not yet examined mechanisms by which ethnicity may lead to informant discrepancies, but there is some evidence that acculturation may play a role in informants’ ratings (Domínguez de Ramírez & Shapiro, 2005). Studies are needed to build on this small body of research, with a particular need for research that examines possible mechanisms underlying ethnic differences in informant discrepancies.

Three child characteristics that may play a role in discrepancies between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of preschool-aged children include child gender, academic functioning, and mental health status. Child gender may contribute to informant discrepancies because there may be gender differences in how variable children are in their behavior in different settings, and because mothers, fathers, and teachers may differ in their gender expectations for children. Although a number of studies, including two meta-analyses, have found no gender differences in informant agreement (Achenbach et al., 1987, Crane et al., 2011, Duhig et al., 2000, Hughes and Gullone, 2010, Kolko and Kazdin, 1993, Langberg et al., 2010), gender differences appear to be somewhat more common in studies of younger children, though no consistent pattern has emerged. For example, Dave et al. (2008) found that fathers were more likely than mothers to rate preschool boys as more hyperactive than girls, whereas Gagnon, Vitaro, and Tremblay (1992) reported that in a large sample of kindergarten children, mother–teacher correlations for externalizing behavior suggested greater agreement for boys than for girls. Because girls make up a higher proportion of children with behavior problems during the preschool years than among older children (Campbell, 1995), there may be more opportunity for preschool girls’ behavior to conflict with parent and teacher expectations, which in turn may lead to more gender differences in informant discrepancies. However, more studies of gender differences in informant ratings of preschool-aged children are needed to evaluate this possibility.

Children's academic functioning is another potentially important child characteristic. Children with academic difficulties may show different patterns of behavior at home compared to school (Heiervang, Stevenson, Lund, & Hugdahl, 2001), which may differentially affect parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of their behavior. Although research has not examined how children's academic skills are related to informant discrepancies, a few studies have examined related constructs including cognitive and verbal abilities. These findings have been mixed. Chi and Hinshaw (2002) did not find a relation between children's cognitive ability and parent–teacher agreement. However, others have found that children who scored lower on tests of cognitive/verbal ability tended to have higher teacher reports of conduct problems and hyperactivity (Collishaw et al., 2009) and lower teacher reports of social–emotional competence (Crane et al., 2011) compared to mothers.

Finally, children's mental health may be an important, but understudied, child characteristic. Children with mental health issues may be more susceptible to environmental factors (Belsky & Pluess, 2009) and therefore behave differently across settings. Mothers, fathers, and teachers may also differ in how likely they are to adjust their expectations based on a child's mental health status, which could also contribute to informant discrepancies. Consistent with this rationale, Kolko and Kazdin (1993) found higher mother–teacher agreement among a nonpatient than a psychiatric patient sample. In contrast, Achenbach et al. (1987) failed to find differences in agreement among mixed informants of clinic vs. nonclinic samples, and Carlson and Blader (2011) reported that parents and teachers were more likely to agree in ratings of mania symptoms in children with externalizing disorders than in non-diagnosed children. In sum, although studies have begun to identify child characteristics that may play a role in discrepancies between mothers, fathers, and teachers, more work is needed, particularly among preschool-aged children.

Finally, theory and research point to family functioning as a potentially important contributor to informant discrepancies. Parent psychopathology, particularly maternal depression, has been perhaps the most well-studied predictor of informant discrepancies, though much of the literature focuses on discrepancies between maternal ratings and observers’ or children's ratings (Richters, 1992). Parent psychopathology may contribute to informant discrepancies both because children may behave differently with distressed parents than with other adults, and because parent psychopathology may distort parents’ views of their children's behavior. In fact, maternal depression, anxiety, stress, and global measures of psychopathology have been linked with mother–teacher (Chilcoat and Breslau, 1997, Collishaw et al., 2009, Van der Oord et al., 2006, Youngstrom et al., 2000) and mother–father discrepancies (Langberg et al., 2010, Treutler and Epkins, 2003) in ratings of externalizing symptoms, with poorer maternal functioning associated with higher ratings of their children's behavior relative to other reports. However, the few studies that have examined whether maternal depression or parenting stress may bias their ratings of ADHD symptoms have found mixed results (Chi and Hinshaw, 2002, Langberg et al., 2010, Van der Oord et al., 2006). Thus, although maternal psychopathology likely plays an important role in informant discrepancies, this role may vary across different types of child behavior. The handful of studies on paternal depression has failed to find a link between fathers’ depression and mother–father discrepancies (Hughes and Gullone, 2010, Jensen et al., 1988, Langberg et al., 2010). However, global measures of fathers’ psychopathology (Treutler & Epkins, 2003), anxiety (Jensen et al., 1988), and parenting stress (Dave et al., 2008, Hughes and Gullone, 2010, Langberg et al., 2010) have been associated with mother–father discrepancies in ratings of externalizing behavior (with greater father distress associated with higher father ratings relative to mothers). Taken together, these findings provide support for the notion that parent well-being may account for informant discrepancies; however, a better understanding is needed of discrepancies in ratings of ADHD symptoms and of the role of fathers’ well-being in informant discrepancies.

Though less well-studied, social class, family structure, and family stressors are also likely to play a role in informant discrepancies. Children from families with fewer resources and more stressful family conditions may behave differently at home than at school in response to stressors in the home. Research on socioeconomic status (SES) has yielded mixed findings; some studies have found a link between SES and mother–father (Duhig et al., 2000) and mother–teacher (Gagnon et al., 1992, Phillips and Lonigan, 2010) agreement, and others have failed to find a correlation between SES and parent–teacher discrepancies (Chi and Hinshaw, 2002, Christensen et al., 1992, Collishaw et al., 2009, Dinnebeil et al., 2013, Jensen et al., 1999, Kolko and Kazdin, 1993, Treutler and Epkins, 2003, Youngstrom et al., 2000). The samples included in these studies varied widely in ethnic makeup, range of SES, and diagnostic status which may account for mixed findings. Fewer studies have examined the effects of family structure or family stressors on informant discrepancies, and findings have been mixed. Some studies support a link between less parent–teacher agreement and greater family size, single parenthood, and family stressors (Collishaw et al., 2009, Gagnon et al., 1992), but others do not (Christensen et al., 1992, Jensen et al., 1988). Research is needed to build on these few studies to better establish whether family structure and stressors are associated with informant discrepancies.

The present study examines predictors of discrepancies between mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ ratings of 3-year-old children's inattention, hyperactivity, and aggression. Guided by theory and previous research, this study focused on the following predictors: ethnicity (African American, Latino, White), child characteristics (gender, pre-academic skills, and ADHD/oppositional defiant disorder [ODD] diagnoses), and family functioning (mother and father depression and negative life events, SES, single parenthood, and family size). It was predicted that greater parent–teacher discrepancies would be evident for African American and Latino children, because parents and teachers would more likely be from different cultural backgrounds. It was also predicted that greater family adversity would be associated with parents reporting higher symptoms than teachers and that parent depression would be associated with parents reporting higher symptoms than other informants.

Because ethnicity is an understudied variable in the informant discrepancies literature, this study also explored possible pathways through which ethnicity might lead to informant discrepancies, including through acculturation, parent depression, negative life events, and SES. These variables have been associated with informant discrepancies in previous research (Carlson and Ogles, 2009, De Los Reyes and Kazdin, 2005, Domínguez de Ramírez and Shapiro, 2005, Epstein et al., 2005, Gross et al., 2004, Schmitz and Velez, 2003), and may therefore play an important role in the process by which ethnicity leads to informant discrepancies.