Toward a Comprehensive Assessment of Relationships with Teachers and Parents for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

This study proposes a multi-informant (youth, teachers, and parents) measure of relationship quality with adults for youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 395 youth with mild (49.15%) and moderate (50.85%) ID, aged 11-22 (M = 15.82) was recruited in Canada (French-speaking, N = 142), and Australia (English-speaking, N = 253). Results support the reliability, factor validity, discriminant validity (in relation to sex, ID level, country, and comorbidity), convergent validity (depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, and prosocial behaviors), and one-year longitudinal stability of the measure. Youth self-reports provide a complementary perspective on relationship quality with adults relative to teachers' or parents' reports, whereas teachers and parents seem unable to differentiate their own perspective from that of the target youth.

Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Intellectual disability; Measurement; Parent–child relationships; Scale validation; Special education needs; Student–teacher relationships.