Evaluating Parental Disagreement in ADHD Diagnosis: Can We Rely on a Single Report From Home?

OBJECTIVE Few studies assessed factors associated with the agreement/disagreement between fathers and mothers when rating ADHD symptoms of their offspring. METHOD Teachers and both parents assessed a referred sample of 98 children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 years ( M age = 9.79, SD = 2.59) using the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP-IV) rating scale. The agreement was assessed for each of the items of the scale and correlated with variables measuring children's features, socioeconomic adversity, family functioning, and parental psychopathology. RESULTS Mean agreement between parents was moderate for the inattentive and good for the hyperactive-impulsive construct. Mothers tended to report more symptoms than fathers. The agreement was lower in those families where parents had discrepant educational levels. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest a significant cross-informant disagreement between parents on symptoms of ADHD. Discrepant parental education has a relevant role in explaining parental disagreement in reporting ADHD symptoms.