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Predictors of Parent-Teacher Agreement on Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Autism Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Typically Developing Siblings

Stratis, Elizabeth Ashley
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1464892375

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
In the assessment of psychological functioning in youth, it is considered a gold standard to elicit information from multiple informants. However, agreement between informants is not perfect, typically falling in the moderate range. These discrepancies between informants reflect, in part, contextual variations in children's behavior. However, for typically developing (TD) youth, several variables predict these discrepancies, including child and parent demographic characteristics. Despite being widely studied in TD youth, few consistent predictors have been identified, which may be related to differences in methodology across studies. Additionally, limited information is currently available regarding predictors of informant agreement in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study utilized data from the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), which provided a large and well-characterized sample of youth with ASD and their TD siblings. Parent-teacher agreement was investigated on the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Agreement consistently fell in the moderate range for both scales. While parent-teacher agreement was higher for externalizing problems than internalizing problems for TD siblings, agreement was fairly consistent across these types of behavioral concerns for youth with ASD. Three types of parent-teacher discrepancy scores were investigated; the standardized difference score showed equivalent agreement with both parent and teacher original ratings, while the raw and residual difference scores showed differential agreement. A variety of clinical and demographic variables were considered as predictors of these discrepancy scores, and results varied across youth with ASD and their TD siblings. For children with ASD, child IQ, parent reported emotional and behavioral problems, and parent and teacher reported ASD symptoms predicted parent-teacher agreement on the ASEBA scales. On the SRS, child IQ, child receptive language, clinician rated ASD symptoms, adaptive behavior, and parent and teacher reported emotional and behavioral problems were significant predictors of parent-teacher agreement. For TD siblings, parent and teacher reported ASD symptoms, and parental race and education were the only consistent predictors of parent-teacher agreement on the ASEBA scales. On the SRS, child sex, child race, parent and teacher rated emotional and behavioral problems, parental education, and parental broader autism phenotype characteristics were predictors of parent-teacher agreement. This study highlights that the magnitude of parent-teacher agreement is similar across children with ASD and TD children, although patterns of agreement vary across these populations. Further, the factors that influence parent-teacher agreement on emotional and behavioral problems and ASD symptoms vary across children with ASD and TD children. This implies that past research in TD children cannot be simply extended to children with ASD, and further research is needed to clarify what factors are associated with informant agreement in children with ASD to identify when the use of multiple informants is the most critical. Findings in this study also suggest that rater bias impacts informant ratings for both children with ASD and their TD siblings; further research is warranted to understand how characteristics of the informant impact ratings of emotional and behavioral problems and ASD symptoms.
Luc Lecavalier (Advisor)
Michael Vasey (Committee Co-Chair)
Theodore Beauchaine (Committee Member)
Andrea Witwer (Committee Member)
423 p.
Clinical Psychology
Autism Spectrum Disorders; Informant Agreement; Emotional and Behavioral Problems; Autism Symptoms

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stratis, E. A. (2016). Predictors of Parent-Teacher Agreement on Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Autism Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Typically Developing Siblings [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1464892375

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stratis, Elizabeth. Predictors of Parent-Teacher Agreement on Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Autism Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Typically Developing Siblings. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1464892375.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stratis, Elizabeth. "Predictors of Parent-Teacher Agreement on Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Autism Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Typically Developing Siblings." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1464892375

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1464892375
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.