Caregiver and youth inter-rater assessment agreement in autism spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, and typical development.

The sample was selected for an MRI study: children had to be right-handed, aged over 8 and under 18, and able to undergo scanning, so it may not represent all children with ASD or DCD. The paper reports 136 dyads recruited, 33 dropped, and a final sample of 103. Typically developing children were selected to have no psychological or neurological disorder, while ASD and DCD children could have comorbid anxiety or ADHD, which may have changed agreement and limits generalizability. Most ASD participants also met criteria for DCD, so the ASD group may not isolate ASD-related reporting patterns. The protocol did not prevent caregivers and children from completing questionnaires together, which could have influenced answers. The study did not compare reports with clinician assessment, did not examine age or IQ effects, and did not examine symptom severity, medication, parent education, parent mental health, or socioeconomic status. The sample excluded children with IQ below 80 and was modest in size, so it may not capture the full range of ASD heterogeneity.

The supplied metadata lists NIH Extramural research support. The article text does not provide an author conflict-of-interest declaration or sponsor role.

Do not read the poor agreement as proof that child reports are more accurate than caregiver reports. The study did not compare either report with clinician diagnosis, and caregivers reported more ADHD symptoms than children in the ASD and DCD groups.