Citation

De Los Reyes A, Cook CR, Gresham FM, Makol BA, Wang M. J. Sch. Psychol. 2019; 74: 74-89.

Affiliation

University of Florida, United States of America.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Society for the Study of School Psychology, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsp.2019.05.005

PMID

31213233

Abstract

Psychosocial functioning plays a key role in students' wellbeing and performance inside and outside of school. As such, techniques designed to measure and improve psychosocial functioning factor prominently in school-based service delivery and research. Given that the different contexts (e.g., school, home, community) in which students exist vary in the degree to which they influence psychosocial functioning, educators and researchers often rely on multiple informants to characterize intervention targets, monitor intervention progress, and inform the selection of evidence-based services. These informants include teachers, students, and parents. Across research teams, domains, and measurement methodologies, researchers commonly observe discrepancies among informants' reports. We review theory and research-occurring largely outside of school-based service delivery and research-that demonstrates how patterns of informant discrepancies represent meaningful differences that can inform our understanding of psychosocial functioning. In turn, we advance a research agenda to improve use and interpretation of informant discrepancies in school-based services and research.

Copyright © 2019 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Informant discrepancies; Multiple informants; Operations Triad Model; Schools