INFORMANT DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN PARENT AND ADOLESCENT REPORTS WITHIN ASD AND ADHD POPULATIONS USING THE BASC-3Informant discrepancies between parents and children are a long-acknowledged challenge regarding the utilization and research of rating scales, especially among adolescents as they begin the developmental process of individuation. The presence of comorbid symptomology among neurodiverse populations increases the demand for skillful and competent clinical practice when aggregating rater reports that seem contrary to ensure accurate diagnoses and treatment planning. One aim of the present study sought to determine if there is a significant difference between parent and adolescent reports among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Third Edition. Numerous relationships were examined using Pearson r correlation coefficients. Significant correlations, with moderate to high rater agreement (r = .46 to .70) were present across variables in the ASD sample, including hyperactivity, anxiety, somatization, and attention problems. Significant correlations in the moderate range were found in the ADHD sample on the Hyperactivity and Depression scales. A second and novel aim of this study was to compare rater agreement between ASD and ADHD samples, using Fisher’s z transformation. Calculated z-difference scores yielded a statistically significant difference in parent-adolescent agreement between the ASD and ADHD groups on the Somatization (z = 3.47, p < .001) and Depression Scales (z diff = 2.6, p = .009), rejecting the null hypotheses. No difference was found between groups on the Anxiety Scale. The results of this study partially differ from previous research which has found that parents and adolescents demonstrate low agreement on ratings of anxiety and depression. This research opens a window of curiosity to the needs of youth with neurodiverse concerns. The findings offer the notion that agreement might be higher within neurodiverse populations than typically developing youth. One possible explanation is that youth with neurodevelopment disorders do not enter the individuation process at the same ages as typically developing peers. These findings support the utilization of multiple informants to obtain comprehensive information to apply to the case conceptualization process. If parents and youth share opinions about their emotional and behavioral problems, they may be more likely to share agreement regarding the need for therapeutic support. Researchers are challenged to investigate mediating factors that influence greater concordance. Future studies including teacher informants, who were omitted from this study, are also needed to provide additional information about the emotional behaviors of youth with ASD and ADHD in academic settings in comparison to the home setting.

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