Development of the Difficulties in Communicating with Teachers Scale Among Parents of Children with ADHD.
A new 12-item parent scale gives BCBAs a fast, reliable snapshot of how tough it feels for parents to talk with teachers about their child with ADHD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a short rating scale for parents of kids with ADHD. The scale asks how hard it is to talk with teachers.
They wrote 12 plain questions and tested them with a small group. They checked if answers stayed the same over time and if the scores matched parent stress and child ADHD symptoms.
What they found
The 12-item DCT-P-CADHD scale held together well. Answers were steady when parents took it twice.
Higher scores lined up with more parent depression and stronger ADHD symptoms. This shows the scale taps real day-to-day struggle, not random noise.
How this fits with other research
Kaiser et al. (2022) tried a similar parent-teacher checklist for kids with IDD. Their tool had weak fit; this new ADHD scale shows stronger numbers. The difference is the tighter focus — only communication, not broad behavior.
Lopata et al. (2020) also found solid reliability in a teacher-only social-skills checklist for autistic students. Both studies back the same message: short, targeted checklists can be trusted when the questions stay close to one clear skill.
Echeverria et al. (2024) reviewed workplace checklists like the PDC-HS. They remind us that brief problem-ID tools work best when each item links to a fixable variable. The DCT-P-CADHD follows that rule by sticking to talk barriers that BCBAs can shape with parent training or teacher coaching.
Why it matters
You now have a quick, free way to measure parent-teacher friction. Give the scale at intake, set a communication goal, and re-check after a few weeks of intervention. A dropping score gives you an easy social-validity number for reports and insurance.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties in communicating with teachers about the challenges their children face with respect to learning, interpersonal relationships, behaviors, and emotions. The current study developed the Difficulties in Communicating with Teachers Scale Among Parents of Children with ADHD (DCT-P-CADHD) and analyzed its psychometric properties. METHODS: The DCT-P-CADHD was developed on the basis of data from focus group interviews. An exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring and polychoric correlation was conducted to examine the factor structure of the DCT-P-CADHD in 230 parents of children with ADHD. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω on polychoric correlations. The 1-month test-retest reliability and item-rest correlation were assessed using Pearson correlation. Concurrent validity was determined by examining the correlations of DCT-P-CADHD scores with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale-IV (SNAP-IV)-Parent Form scores. RESULTS: One factor was extracted for the DCT-P-CADHD. The DCT-P-CADHD had high internal consistency (α = 0.973 and ω = 0.981), strong item-rest correlations (range of Pearson correlation: 0.602-0.899), and acceptable test-retest reliability (Pearson correlation: 0.809). The scale score was significantly correlated with CES-D scores (r = 0.385) and SNAP subset scores (r = 0.294-0.322). CONCLUSION: Our findings provide support for the psychometric properties of the DCT-P-CADHD. Thus, the DCT-P-CADHD can be used to evaluate parental difficulties in communicating with teachers about the issues faced by their children with ADHD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.104990