Trait and State Variance in Multi-Informant Assessments of ADHD and Academic Impairment in Spanish First-Grade Children

Abstract

Objective. We examined the stable trait and variable state components of ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), and academic impairment (AI) dimensions using mothers’, fathers’, primary and secondary teachers’ ratings of children’s behavior at home and school. We also examined between-informant agreement with regard to trait and state components. Method. Mothers, fathers, primary and secondary teachers rated HI, IN, and AI in N = 758 Spanish first grade children (55% boys) over three measurement occasions across 12 months. Results. Latent state-trait analyses revealed that mothers’, fathers’, and primary teachers’ (but not secondary teachers’) ratings reflected more trait variance for ADHD-HI (M = 73%), ADHD-IN (M = 74%), and AI (M = 76%) than occasion-specific variance (M = 27%, M = 26%, and M = 24%, respectively). Fathers’ ratings shared a meaningful level of trait variance with mothers’ ratings of ADHD-HI and ADHD-IN (range 78% to 82%), whereas primary and secondary teachers’ ratings shared lower levels of trait variance with mothers’ ratings (range 41% to 63%). The trait components of fathers’, primary teachers’, and secondary teachers’ ratings of AI showed high levels of convergence with mothers’ ratings (88%, 70%, and 59% respectively). Conclusions. ADHD symptom reports reflect both trait (48 to 86%) and state (14 to 53%) variance components. The lower amount of shared variability between home and school suggests the setting-specificity of trait and state components of ADHD symptoms. Our findings indicate that ADHD symptom reports may reflect context-specific traits, suggesting the importance of differentiating and targeting ADHD behaviors across different settings.

FUNDING

This research was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grant PSI2011-23254 (Spanish government).

Notes

¹ Data used in the present study were previously analyzed to assess the cross-sectional construct validity of ADHD across settings and raters using the first two waves (baseline and 6 weeks later; Burns et al., 2014). Further, the HI portion of the data was also used to illustrate a new statistical method to assess person–situation interaction effects using mother and teacher reports only (Geiser et al., 2015). The present study implements all three waves of data to assess longitudinal stability and cross-contextual consistency of ADHD symptoms, thus the substantive questions and theoretical application are unique to the present article.

² In the Spanish education system, Primary Teachers follow students for 2 years (first and second grade, third and fourth grade, and fifth and sixth grade). The Primary Teacher is responsible for most of the subjects for two years. The “Secondary Teacher” refers to a teacher responsible for one or two specific subjects (i.e., English, Artistic or Physical Education, etc.). Primary Teachers did not change through the course of the study, yet Secondary Teachers may have.

³ The model included autoregressive effects (Cole et al., 2005) between occasion residual factors at Time 1 and Time 2.

⁴ All error variables are also assumed to be uncorrelated with each other as well as with all latent factors in the model.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grant PSI2011-23254 (Spanish government).