Background and Objectives: Obtaining a multi-informant perspective is important when assessing psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. Obtaining ratings from both parents and teachers also facilitates the evaluation of similarities and contrasts in the nature and severity of symptoms across home and school contexts. However, these informants may differ in their interpretations of observed behaviours, raising questions about the validity of comparing parents’ and teachers’ ratings. Methods: We evaluated the cross-informant measurement invariance of one of the most widely used measures of child and adolescent psychopathology: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Using data from the UK-population representative Millennium Cohort Study we evaluated configural, metric, and scalar invariance across parents and teachers at ages 7 (n=10,221) and 11 (n=10,543). Results: Scalar invariance held at both ages. Parents reported higher levels of symptoms in all domains measured at age 11 but higher prosociality. At age 7, parents reported higher levels of symptoms in some domains (conduct problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity), lower levels of symptoms in others (emotional problems, peer problems) and higher levels of prosociality.Conclusions: For a UK sample, valid comparisons of parent and teacher SDQ ratings at ages 7 and 11 appear to be possible, facilitating the evaluation of contextual differences in psychopathology expression.
Child Conduct Problems Across Home and School Contexts: a Person-Centered Approach