title: Utility of behavior ratings by examiners during assessments of preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
abstract: This study examines the clinical utility of behavior ratings made by nonclinician examiners during assessments of preschool children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Matched samples of children with (n = 127) and without (n = 125) AD/HD were utilized to test the internal, convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity of ratings completed by examiners on the Hillside Behavior Rating Scale (HBRS). Results indicated that HBRS ratings were internally consistent, possessed sufficient interrater reliability, and were significantly associated with parent and teacher reports of AD/HD when controlling for age, gender, intelligence, and symptoms of other psychopathology. HBRS ratings also were significantly associated with other measures of functioning, and provided a significant increment in the prediction of impairment over parent and teacher report alone. These findings suggest that behavioral ratings during testing provide a unique source of clinical information that may be useful as a supplement to parent and teacher reports.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 80309, USA.
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Willcutt
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Lahey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loney
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Pelham
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012574:Schools