Comparison of Parent and Teacher Reports of Adaptive Functioning for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background:  

The Vineland-II, a leading measure for studying adaptive functioning, contains different forms for teachers and parents, but there have been few studies comparing informant effects. Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have significant deficits in their adaptive skills, which include the age-appropriate behaviors that are needed to live and function independently in the real world. While IQ has been found to be a strong predictor of adaptive behavior in low functioning individuals with ASD, this gap is increased for higher functioning individuals. This suggests the importance of understanding how IQ interacts with and contributes to adaptive functioning. 

Objectives:

The aim of this study is to compare parent and teacher reports on the Vineland-II for children and adolescents with ASD. The relationship of those reports will be examined while controlling separately for cognitive functioning, symptom severity, SRS total score, and SCQ. In addition, the contribution of IQ to the score of adaptive functioning will be examined. 

Methods:

Participants include 200 individuals with ASD (183 males, 17 females) between 6 and 18 years of age (mean age=12.02 years, SD 3.12 years). Chi-square analyses and Pearson correlations were run between Vineland-II scores for parent and teacher reports in the Communication, Daily Living Skills, and Socialization domains and each of their subscales. Partial correlations were also run, controlling for cognitive functioning, ADOS severity score, SRS total score, and SCQ scores separately. 

Results:  

Teachers rated participants higher than parents did for all three domains analyzed in this study. There was a significant difference between parent and teacher mean scores for the Communication and Daily Living Skills domain, but not for Socialization. Significant correlations were found between parent and teacher reports for all of the domains. However, after controlling for IQ, these were no longer significant. SRS total score, SCQ, and ADOS severity score had no significant effect on correlations. 

Conclusions:   

Children and adolescents with ASD have difficulty applying their cognitive abilities to everyday skills. Teachers and parents interact with individuals with ASD in different settings for varying lengths of time and may have different expectations and thresholds for their appraisal of children’s skills. In addition, informants may differ on how they interpret their view of an individual with higher or lower IQ. Therefore, it is important to consider the viewpoints of multiple informants to obtain a more comprehensive evaluation of an individual with ASD that can be useful in the creation of appropriate and efficient diagnosis and planning.