Equivalency for Father and Mother Ratings of the ADHD Symptoms

The study used multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) procedures to examine the measurement and construct equivalencies for father and mother ratings of ADHD symptoms, recoded as binary scores. Fathers (N= 387) and mothers (N=411) rated their primary school-aged children on the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale (Barkley & Murphy, 1998). For the multiple-group CFA analyses, the results involving differences in practical fit indices supported full measurement and construct equivalencies, whereas the chisquare difference test showed lack of equivalency in five symptoms for factor loadings, four symptoms for error variance, and the variance and mean scores for the hyperactivity-impulsivity factor. For the MIMIC analyses, six symptoms lacked equivalency for thresholds. These findings extend existing data in this area. The theoretical, psychometric and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.