Citation

DuPaul GJ. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University, 111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA. gjd3@lehigh.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10802-019-00615-5

PMID

31900837

Abstract

Diagnostic assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children necessarily involves subjective judgements about the severity, frequency, and impact of symptoms on the part of parents, teachers, and clinicians. Thus, it is possible that parent and teacher ratings may be discrepant as a function of child and adult respondent race, adult role (i.e., parent or teacher), and environmental context (e.g., classroom vs. home). In order to fully understand racial differences in ADHD symptom ratings, it is important to disentangle the relative contributions of these factors. This commentary discusses the results of the Kang and Harvey (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology,2019) study in relation to race, role, and context. Specific contributions of this study as well as unanswered questions to consider when interpreting their findings are delineated. Recommendations for future research to investigate the relative contributions of race, role, and context in accounting for racial differences in parent-teacher ADHD symptom ratings along with implications for assessment practice are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

ADHD; Behavior rating scales: racial differences