Development of the Difficulties in Communicating with Parents among Teachers of Students with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Scale

Objectives: Teachers often encounter challenges when working with students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and communicating with these students’ parents. Here,. we intended to develop the Difficulties in Communicating with Parents among Teachers of Students with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (DCP-T-SADHD) Scale, and to validate its psychometric properties. Methods: We developed the DCP-T-SADHD on the data from focus group interviews, through doing an exploratory factor analysis to examine the factor structure of the DCP-T-SADHD in 230 teachers of children with ADHD. Internal consistency was assessed using McDonald’s ω. Intercorrelations and one-month test–retest reliability among the total and extracted factor scores were evaluated using Pearson correlations. Concurrent validity was determined by examining the correlations of DCP-T-SADHD scores with teachers’ knowledge of ADHD and perceived support in teaching students with ADHD. Results: Four factors of the DCP-T-SADHD, included Behaviors and Emotion, Medical and Tutoring Resources, Learning and Interpersonal Relationships, and Communication Skills with high internal consistency (McDonald’s ω ranging from 0.821 to 0.902). The one-month test–retest reliability was significantly related to the four DCP-T-SADHD factors (r = 0.309 to 0.549; p < 0.001). Higher perceived support in teaching students with ADHD was associated with lower DCP-T-SADHD scores (r = −0.229 to −0.147); additionally, greater self-reported knowledge of ADHD was correlated with lower scores on Factor Behaviors and Emotion (r = −0.135). Conclusion: Our findings provide support for the psychometric properties of the DCP-T-SADHD. Thus, this scale can be used to evaluate teachers’ difficulties in communicating with parents about the issues faced by their children with ADHD.