Impact of Children’s Identified Disability Status on Parent and Teacher Behavior Ratings

Abstract

This study was an examination of the possible influence of a child’s pre-identified disability on parent and teacher behavior ratings and whether a child’s disability status affected parent ratings, when controlling for parenting stress. The sample included 206 kindergarten through third grade students and their teachers and parents from a Midwestern town and surrounding area. The results indicated that a child’s identified disability had a greater impact on parent ratings than teacher ratings of a child’s behavior. Compared to parents of a child without a disability, parents of a child with an identified disability reported significantly higher levels of externalizing problems and significantly lower levels of adaptive and social skills. In contrast, the negative effect of a child’s identified disability on teacher ratings was evident only in adaptive and social skills. Additionally, after controlling for parenting stress, a child’s identified disability accounted for a small but significant proportion of the variance in parent ratings of child externalizing problems and social skills. The findings may inform school psychology practice regarding behavior assessment and case conceptualization.