Development of the Difficulties in Communicating with Teachers Scale Among Parents of Children with ADHD

Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties in communicating with teachers about the challenges their children face with respect to learning, interpersonal relationships, behaviors, and emotions. The current study developed the Difficulties in Communicating with Teachers Scale Among Parents of Children with ADHD (DCT-P-CADHD) and analyzed its psychometric properties.

The DCT-P-CADHD was developed on the basis of data from focus group interviews. An exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring and polychoric correlation was conducted to examine the factor structure of the DCT-P-CADHD in 230 parents of children with ADHD. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω on polychoric correlations. The 1-month test-retest reliability and item-rest correlation were assessed using Pearson correlation. Concurrent validity was determined by examining the correlations of DCT-P-CADHD scores with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale-IV (SNAP-IV)-Parent Form scores.

One factor was extracted for the DCT-P-CADHD. The DCT-P-CADHD had high internal consistency (α = 0.973 and ω = 0.981), strong item-rest correlations (range of Pearson correlation: 0.602-0.899), and acceptable test-retest reliability (Pearson correlation: 0.809). The scale score was significantly correlated with CES-D scores (r = 0.385) and SNAP subset scores (r = 0.294-0.322).

Our findings provide support for the psychometric properties of the DCT-P-CADHD. Thus, the DCT-P-CADHD can be used to evaluate parental difficulties in communicating with teachers about the issues faced by their children with ADHD.