Prospective Prediction of Childhood Behavior Problems by Multiple Informants

The current study examined relationships between parent and teacher reports of symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in preschool age children over the course of one year. The goals of the study were to examine prospective prediction between ODD and emotional symptoms, and to understand the contributions of different informants to outcomes. Additionally, the study explored how differences between parent and teacher ratings change over time. Participants were young children (N=184) ages 4-5 from a community sample. Subjects' parents and teachers completed a symptom checklist. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results from regression analyses indicate that parent-and teacher-reported symptoms of ODD at Time 1 were associated with parent- and teacher-reported symptoms of ODD at Time 2. After controlling for Time 1 co-varying symptoms, parent-reported ODD symptoms at Time 1 were associated with parent-and teacher-reported symptoms of MDD at Time 2 while teacher-reported symptoms of ODD were only associated with parent-reported MDD symptoms at Time 2. Once co-occurring symptoms at Time 1 were accounted for, parent reports of ODD symptoms at Time 1 had a significant relationship with parent, but not teacher, reports of GAD symptoms at Time 2. Likewise, teacher reports of ODD symptoms at Time 1 had a significant relationship with teacher, but not parent, reports of GAD symptoms at Time 2. SEM analysis indicated that parent-reported ODD and MDD symptoms at Time 1 did not generalize to the school setting at Time 2 while teacher-reported ODD and GAD symptoms at Time 1 generalized to the home at Time 2. Finally, correlations between discrepancy scores were significant for all disorders, indicating that discrepancies between informants were consistent over time and across multiple assessments. Results underscore the importance of including teacher report in research and clinical settings as aggregating reports across informants may mask important within group differences.