Agreement between Parent and Teacher Reports in Clinical Setting : Comparing SDQ-Kr with K-CBCL

Kim, Heung Kyu; Ahn, Joung Sook; Kim, Min Hyock

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aims of this study were to examine agreement between parent and teacher ratings of the Korean version Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr) for the children's psychopathology and to determine whether it is effective in diagnostics as the Korean version of Childhood Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL).
METHODS
SDQ-Kr and K-CBCL were completed by parents and teachers of 165 children aged 6-12 years. The clinical diagnosis was made by a child and adolescent psychiatrist who did not have knowledge of the outcome. Spearman's correlations were computed for associations between parents' and teachers' ratings on a subscale level. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed for the influence of child's age and sex on the results. Finally, AUC values were calculated for the diagnostic capacity and the difference between informants was tested using the z test.
RESULTS
High correlations were observed between parents' and teachers' SDQ-Kr on every scale. Parents were more sensitive to emotional symptoms of girls, while teachers appeared to be more responsive to externalized symptoms of boys, inattention-hyperactivity of young children, and emotional symptoms of seniors. Parents' SDQ-Kr demonstrated the highest prediction of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
CONCLUSION
Teachers' SDQ-Kr can be used in identification of child psychopathology when parents are absent or when their reliability is considered low.