Comparison of Mother, Father, and Teacher Reports of ADHD Core Symptoms in a Sample of Child Psychiatric Outpatients

Review by Ron Huxley

A study in the Journal of Attention Disorders looked at the differences or similarities of identifying ADHD symptoms in children between Fathers, Mothers and Teachers. It didn’t surprise me that fathers reported fewer symptoms than did mom and dads. This is probably due to the fact that dads, typically, spend less time with children than do moms and teachers. It isn’t a gender issue as a teacher could easily be a man as well as a women. Having said that, parental roles played out by gender may have some influence over what is noticed and what is not. The interesting finding of the study was that moms and dads correctly diagnosed the problem at the same rating. Apparently, dads can spot ADHD when they see it – the question, I suppose, is do they see it. 

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Comparison of Mother, Father, and Teacher Reports of ADHD Core Symptoms in a Sample of Child Psychiatric Outpatients