title: The effects of instructions on mothers' ratings of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in referred children.
abstract: Tested whether instructions for how to rate child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms would improve the agreement between mothers' ratings of symptoms in their children and ratings provided by teachers and objective observers. Sixty-eight mothers of 5 to 12 year old children (53 boys and 15 girls) referred for ADHD assessment were randomly assigned to receive or not receive the instructions. Mothers and teachers rated the children on the SNAP-IV Rating Scale and objective observers rated the children's behavior during structured tasks. Relations between mother and teacher, and mother and observer ratings were generally stronger for mothers in the Instruction group compared to mothers in the No Instruction group, in some cases significantly stronger. The instructional materials also improved mothers' knowledge of how to rate ADHD symptoms and reduced some associations between mothers' ratings and family socioeconomic status. These instructions have the potential to improve clinical assessments of child ADHD symptoms.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, cjohnston@psych.ubc.ca.
authors: Charlotte
authors: C
authors: Johnston
authors: Margaret D
authors: MD
authors: Weiss
authors: Candice
authors: C
authors: Murray
authors: Natalie V
authors: NV
authors: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education*; D015588:Observer Variation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods
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