Top

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

08-12-2023 | Original Paper

Parents’ and Teachers’ Perspectives of Autism and Co-Morbidity Symptom Severity in Young Children with ASD Over One School Year

Auteurs: Einat Avni, Esther Ben-Itzchak, Ronit Saban-Bezalel, Ditza A. Zachor

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 1/2025

Abstract

Purpose

Only a few studies examined the longitudinal pattern of parent–teacher reports on autism severity and comorbidities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and yielded conflicting results. The study’s aims were to compare parents and teachers’ perception of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety symptoms severity in children with ASD, at the start (T1) and end (T2) of the school year, to assess changes in their perception over time and to examine correlations between their reports.

Methods

The study included 73 participants, (M = 61), aged 2:10 − 7:6 years (M = 4:10, SD = 1:0), who attended ASD special education classes and were receiving intensive interventions. Parents and teachers completed measures of autism severity and ADHD and anxiety symptoms at T1 and T2.

Results

Teachers, in comparison to parents, rated more severe social-communication impairments and inattention symptoms at T1, but not at T2. A significant improvement in teachers’ ratings of autism and inattention symptoms severity was documented at T2. At both time points, parents reported more severe anxiety symptoms. Significant correlations between parents’ and teachers’ reports were noted for autism severity at T1 and T2, but not for inattention and anxiety symptoms severity.

Conclusion

The study emphasizes the contribution of multiple perspectives for better collaboration between home and school environments. Obtaining accurate information from parents and teachers at the start of the school year may help to identify factors needed for better adjustment at school and to better address difficulties at home.

vorige artikel The Developmental Autism Early Screening (DAES): A Novel Test for Screening Autism Spectrum Disorder

volgende artikel Oral Health and Behavioral Management of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A 30-year Retrospective Study

Adams, D., Young, K., & Keen, D. (2019). Anxiety in children with autism at school: A systematic review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 6(3), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-019-00172-zCrossRef

Aman, M. G., & Singh, N. (1994). Aberrant behavior checklist. Community (ABC). Slosson Educational Publications.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV. American Psychiatric Association.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Publications.

Azad, G. F., Reisinger, E., Xie, M., & Mandell, D. S. (2016). Parent and teacher concordance on the social responsiveness scale for children with autism. School Mental Health, 8(3), 368–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-015-9168-6CrossRefPubMed

Bearss, K., Taylor, C. A., Aman, M. G., Whittemore, R., Lecavalier, L., Miller, J., Pritchett, J., Green, B., & Scahill, L. (2015). Using qualitative methods to guide scale development for anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 20(6), 663–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361315601012CrossRefPubMed

Conners, C. K. (1997). Conners’ rating scales–revised. MHS.

Constantino, J. N., & Gruber, C. P. (2012). Social responsiveness scale (SRS-2). Western Psychological Services.

Constantino, J. N., Davis, S. A., Todd, R. D., Schindler, M. K., Gross, M. M., Brophy, S. L., Metzger, L. M., Shoushtari, C. S., Splinter, R., & Reich, W. (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative measure of autistic traits: Comparison of the social responsiveness scale with the autism diagnostic interview-revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 427–433. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025014929212CrossRefPubMed

De Los Reyes, A. (2011). Introduction to the special section: More than measurement error: Discovering meaning behind informant discrepancies in clinical assessments of children and adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2011.533405CrossRef

De Los Reyes, A., Augenstein, T. M., Wang, M., Thomas, S. A., Drabick, D. A. G., Burgers, D. E., & Rabinowitz, J. (2015). The validity of the multi-informant approach to assessing child and adolescent mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 858–900. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038498CrossRef

Dickson, K. S., Suhrheinrich, J., Rieth, S. R., & Stahmer, A. C. (2018). Parent and teacher concordance of child outcomes for youth with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(5), 1423–1435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3382-zCrossRefPubMed

Gadow, K. D., DeVincent, C. J., Pomeroy, J., & Azizian, A. (2004). Psychiatric symptoms in preschool children with PDD and clinic and comparison samples. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(4), 379–393. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JADD.0000037415.21458.93CrossRefPubMed

Glod, M., Creswell, C., Waite, P., Jamieson, R., McConachie, H., South, D., M., & Rodgers, J. (2017). Comparisons of the factor structure and measurement invariance of the spence children’s anxiety scale—parent version in children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing anxious children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(12), 3834–3846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3118-0CrossRefPubMed

Harvey, E. A., Lugo-Candelas, C. I., & Breaux, R. P. (2015). Longitudinal changes in individual symptoms across the preschool years in children with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44(4), 580–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2014.886253CrossRef

Kanne, S. M., Abbacchi, A. M., & Constantino, J. N. (2009). Multi-informant ratings of psychiatric symptom severity in children with autism spectrum disorders: The importance of environmental context. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(6), 856–864. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0694-7CrossRefPubMed

Karst, J. S., & Van Hecke, A. V. (2012). Parent and family impact of autism spectrum disorders: A review and proposed model for intervention evaluation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 15(3), 247–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-012-0119-6CrossRefPubMed

Kerns, C. M., Winder-Patel, B., Iosif, A. M., Nordahl, C. W., Heath, B., Solomon, M., & Amaral, D. G. (2021). Clinically significant anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder and varied intellectual functioning. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 50(6), 780–795. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2019.1703712CrossRef

Levinson, S., Neuspiel, J., Eisenhower, A., & Blacher, J. (2021). Parent–teacher disagreement on ratings of behavior problems in children with ASD: Associations with parental school involvement over time. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(6), 1966–1982. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04675-1CrossRefPubMed

Llanes, E., Blacher, J., Stavropoulos, K., & Eisenhower, A. (2020). Parent and teacher reports of comorbid anxiety and ADHD symptoms in children with ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(5), 1520–1531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3701-zCrossRefPubMed

Martin, C. P., Shoulberg, E. K., & Hoza, B. (2022). The developmental course of teacher-rated ADHD symptom levels in an early childhood community sample. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(3), 456–466. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054721997561CrossRefPubMed

Mash, E. J., & Hunsley, J. (2005). Evidence-based assessment of child and adolescent disorders: Issues and challenges. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 34(3), 362–379. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3403_1CrossRef

Moskowitz, L. J., & Braconnier, M. (2023). Assessing anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder. Psychology in the Schools, 60(2), 329–344. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22669CrossRef

Murray, D. S., Ruble, L. A., Willis, H., & Molloy, C. A. (2009). Parent and teacher report of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 40(2), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/07-0089)CrossRefPubMed

Neil, L., & Smith, M. (2017). Teachers’ recognition of anxiety and somatic symptoms in their pupils. Psychology in the Schools, 54(9), 1176–1188. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22055CrossRef

Palmer, M., Tarver, J., Leno, V. C., Perez, J. P., Frayne, M., Slonims, V., Pickles, A., Scott, S., Charman, T., & Simonoff, E. (2023). Parent, teacher and observational reports of emotional and behavioral problems in young autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(1), 296–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05421-xCrossRefPubMed

Pedersen, M. L., Holen, S., Lydersen, S., Martinsen, K., Neumer, S. P., Adolfsen, F., & Sund, A. M. (2019). School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren. BMC Psychology, 7(1), 88. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0365-1CrossRefPubMed

Reed, P., & Osborne, L. A. (2013). The role of parenting stress in discrepancies between parent and teacher ratings of behavior problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(2), 471–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1594-9CrossRefPubMed

Rodgers, J., Wigham, S., McConachie, H., Freeston, M., Honey, E., & Parr, J. R. (2016). Development of the anxiety scale for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASC-ASD). Autism Research, 9(11), 1205–1215. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1603CrossRefPubMed

Saban-Bezalel, R., Ben-Itzchak, E., & Stolar, O. (2021). Brief report – selective eating: Parental and day care professional perception of ASD symptom severity in toddlers and children over time. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 87, 101830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101830CrossRef

Scahill, L., Lecavalier, L., Schultz, R. T., Evans, A. N., Maddox, B., Pritchett, J., Herrington, J., Gillespie, S., Miller, J., Amoss, R. T., Aman, M. G., Bearss, K., Gadow, K., & Edwards, M. C. (2019). Development of the parent-rated anxiety scale for youth with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(9), 887–896e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.10.016CrossRef

Spence, S. H., Rapee, R., McDonald, C., & Ingram, M. (2001). The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(11), 1293–1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(00)00098-XCrossRefPubMed

Spence, S. H., Barrett, P. M., & Turner, C. M. (2003). Psychometric properties of the Spence Children’s anxiety scale with young adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 17(6), 605–625. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00236-0CrossRefPubMed

Stone, W., Ruble, L., Coonrod, E., Hepburn, S., & Pennington, M. (2003). TRIAD social skills assessment manual. Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Stratis, E. A., & Lecavalier, L. (2017). Predictors of parent–teacher agreement in youth with autism spectrum disorder and their typically developing siblings. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(8), 2575–2585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3173-6CrossRefPubMed

Szatmari, P., Archer, L., Fisman, S., & Streiner, D. L. (1994). Parent and teacher agreement in the assessment of pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(6), 703–717. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172281CrossRefPubMed

Tarver, J., Vitoratou, S., Mastroianni, M., Heaney, N., Bennett, E., Gibbons, F., Fiori, F., Absoud, M., Ramasubramanian, L., Simonoff, E., & Santosh, P. (2021). Development and psychometric properties of a new questionnaire to assess mental health and concerning behaviors in children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): The assessment of concerning behavior (ACB) scale. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(8), 2812–2828. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04748-1CrossRefPubMed

Ung, D., Boone, D. M., McBride, N., Howie, F., Scalli, L., & Storch, E. A. (2017). Parent and teacher agreement of behavior problems in youth diagnosed with and without autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(2), 370–380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0566-7CrossRef

Weisbrot, D. M., Gadow, K. D., DeVincent, C. J., & Pomeroy, J. (2005). The presentation of anxiety in children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 15(3), 477–496. https://doi.org/10.1089/cap.2005.15.477CrossRefPubMed

Titel: Parents’ and Teachers’ Perspectives of Autism and Co-Morbidity Symptom Severity in Young Children with ASD Over One School Year
Auteurs: Einat Avni
Esther Ben-Itzchak
Ronit Saban-Bezalel
Ditza A. Zachor
Publicatiedatum: 08-12-2023
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 1/2025
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06183-4

Andere artikelen Uitgave 1/2025

Impact of Receiving Genetic Diagnoses on Parents’ Perceptions of Their Children with Autism and Intellectual Disability

Original Paper

Investigating Social Competence in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Theatre-Based Intervention Enhanced for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Open Access
original Paper

Profiling Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Traits in Children with SYNGAP1-Related Intellectual Disability

Open Access
Original Paper

Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) for Italy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Skills Intervention for Autistic Adolescents

Open Access
Original Paper

Siblings FORWARD: Development of a New Program to Engage Siblings of Autistic Adults in Future Planning

Original Paper

Correction to: The Moderating Effect of Sex on Autistic Trait Emotional Intelligence, Alexithymia, and Empathy

Open Access
Correction

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Welkom bij Scalda & Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Registreer

Login

Parents’ and Teachers’ Perspectives of Autism and Co-Morbidity Symptom Severity in Young Children with ASD Over One School Year

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Andere artikelen Uitgave 1/2025

Impact of Receiving Genetic Diagnoses on Parents’ Perceptions of Their Children with Autism and Intellectual Disability

Investigating Social Competence in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Theatre-Based Intervention Enhanced for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Profiling Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Traits in Children with SYNGAP1-Related Intellectual Disability

Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) for Italy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Skills Intervention for Autistic Adolescents

Siblings FORWARD: Development of a New Program to Engage Siblings of Autistic Adults in Future Planning

Correction to: The Moderating Effect of Sex on Autistic Trait Emotional Intelligence, Alexithymia, and Empathy

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Welkom bij Scalda & Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Registreer

Login

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Impact of Receiving Genetic Diagnoses on Parents’ Perceptions of Their Children with Autism and Intellectual Disability

Investigating Social Competence in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Theatre-Based Intervention Enhanced for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Profiling Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Traits in Children with SYNGAP1-Related Intellectual Disability

Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) for Italy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Skills Intervention for Autistic Adolescents

Siblings FORWARD: Development of a New Program to Engage Siblings of Autistic Adults in Future Planning

Correction to: The Moderating Effect of Sex on Autistic Trait Emotional Intelligence, Alexithymia, and Empathy