The Conners Teacher Rating Scale: Effects of age, sex, and race with special education chilren

Abstract

The Conners Teacher Rating Scale was completed on 581 special education children and 45 regular education children in eight county school systems in the state of Georgia in order to examine the effects of age, sex, and race on the Cohen and Hynd Factor Analysis. Comparison of the behavioral profiles of the four special education subgroups also was carried out. As in the previous study, distinct behavioral profiles were obtained for the special education subgroups, which appear to be fairly stable across studies. Of further interest were the findings of an age x group interaction effect on the conduct disorder and depression subscales, in the emotionally disturbed children, and a sex × group interaction effect on the conduct disorder subscale for the emotionally disturbed and behavior disorder subgroups. These results lend further support to the contention that the Cohen and Hynd factor analysis provides the user with a more clinically meaningful description of a child's overall behavior pattern.