Psychometric properties of ADHD rating scales among children with mental retardation I: reliability.
Teacher ADHD ratings are the most stable for young kids with ID, but teens may speak for themselves.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave ADHD rating scales to 5- to young learners kids with intellectual disability.
Teachers, parents, and aides filled out the same form twice, two weeks apart.
They checked which version stayed steady over time.
What they found
Teacher scores stayed almost the same on both days.
Parent scores shifted more, so their test-retest reliability was weaker.
Bottom line: teachers give the steadiest picture of ADHD traits in these kids.
How this fits with other research
Sisson et al. (1993) saw the same pattern with depression scales in teens with ID: caregiver reports held steady while parent and self reports wobbled.
Wilson et al. (2023) flips the script for older kids. They proved teens with ID can reliably answer wellbeing questions themselves, something L et al. never tested.
Hagiwara et al. (2021) adds a twist: adding the person’s own voice (or more respondents) changes support-need scores. Together these papers show age and respondent mix matter as much as the scale itself.
Why it matters
If you assess ADHD in elementary kids with ID, start with the teacher scale and treat parent data as a backup. For teens, try brief self-report tools first. Always record who filled out each form so later raters know the source’s track record for consistency.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The reliability of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rating scales in children with mental retardation was assessed. Parents, teachers, and teaching assistants completed ADHD rating scales on 48 children aged 5-12 diagnosed with mental retardation. Measures included the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Conners Rating Scales, the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test (ADHDT), the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP) Checklist, the Werry-Weiss-Peters Activity Rating Scale (WWPARS), the ADD-H Comprehensive Teacher's Rating Scale (ACTeRS), and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C). The internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater reliability of each scale was examined. Results showed best support for teacher completed scales, followed by ratings made by teaching assistants, and parent-report scales. Strong support for the internal consistency of the teacher-report measures was found, and it was quite similar to previously reported internal consistencies with typically developing children. Test-retest reliabilities of the teacher report measures were also quite good but tended to be lower than those reported for typically developing children. For teaching assistant ratings, test-retest reliabilities were adequate to very good. The internal consistency reliabilities for parent completed measures were adequate to excellent, but test-retest reliabilities were low. Interrater reliability was best for teacher-teaching assistants. The ABC-C was the only measure on which the interrater reliability was adequate for clinical purposes.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2004 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2003.11.003