Multi-informant ratings of psychiatric symptom severity in children with autism spectrum disorders: the importance of environmental context.

Cramm et al. (2009) asked parents and teachers to rate the same kids with autism. They wanted to see who reported more mental-health symptoms.

The team gave rating scales to both groups. No one was treated; they just compared the numbers.

Parents ticked more boxes for anxiety, ADHD, and oppositional behavior than teachers did.

The link between autism severity and these extra problems changed depending on who filled the form. Same child, different story.

Boudreau et al. (2015) pooled 49 similar papers and found the average parent-teacher match is only moderate (r = .36). Cramm et al. (2009) is one of those dots on the graph.

Reed et al. (2013) ran almost the same survey and also saw poor agreement; parenting stress did not explain the gap. This backs up the context idea.

Avni et al. (2025) followed kids for a full school year. Teacher scores moved closer to parent scores by spring. The disagreement Cramm et al. (2009) caught is not fixed; it can shrink as teachers know the child better.

Big gaps between home and school reports are normal, not a mistake. Use both forms, then look around. If parents see anxiety teachers do not, check what happens at home—noise, transitions, siblings. If teachers see hyperactivity parents do not, study the classroom—seating, noise level, task length. Match the intervention to the setting that shows the problem.