Are Teacher Ratings and Parent Ratings Differently Associated with Children's Intelligence and Cognitive Performance?

The present study investigated whether teacher ratings and parent ratings of inattentive or hyperactive/impulsive symptoms were differently associated with intelligence or cognitive performance in Korean children.

Six hundred sixty-seven children were recruited from nine schools in five Korean cities. The teachers and parents of 580 of these children (9.0±0.7 years old, 333 boys and 306 girls) completed the Korean version of the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scales (K-ARS), and the children performed the abbreviated form of the Korean Educational Development Institute-Wechsler Intelligence Scales (KEDI-WISC) and a neurocognitive battery consisting of the continuous performance test, the Children's Color Trails Test, and the Stroop Color-Word Test. Diagnosis of full-syndrome and subthreshold attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version-IV (DISC-IV).

The level of agreement between teacher and parent ratings was low (r=0.21-0.26) in children with full-syndrome and subthreshold ADHD and low to moderate (r=0.31-0.41) in the normative sample. Teacher-rated ARS showed significant correlations with most sub-scores of KEDI-WISC and the neurocognitive battery both in the normative sample (r=-0.50-0.37) and in children with full-syndrome and subthreshold ADHD (r=-0.26-0.29). Correlations between parent-rated ARS and cognitive tests were lower and were found in fewer subscales of tests.

These results suggest the importance of considering the teacher's report of a child's school functioning during the assessment of ADHD.