A preliminary study on the adaptability of a comprehensive teacher rating scale in Hong Kong

by Wong Woo, Pung-fat

(Uncorrected OCR) if* V Abstract of Thesis Entitled A Preliminary Study on the Adaptability of a Comprehensive Teacher Rating Scale in Hong Kong Submitted by WONG WOO Pung Fat Teresa for the degree of Master of Social Sciences in Educational Psychology Department of Psychology University of Hong Kong August, 1987 L i This was a preliminary study to explore the adaptability of a teacher rating scale for local use. The Scale was called the Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADD-H): Comprehensive Teacher Rating Scale (ACTeRS), developed in reponse to the latest diagnostic criteria for hyperactivity or ADD-H as set in the DSM-III (1980). A translation of the Scale was produced. Thirty-nine teachers rated 722 children with age ranging from 5 to 13 years old, on the translated Chinese version of the Scale. The resulted 3-factor structure (Attention-Sociability, Oppositional, and Hyperactivity) resembled the original 4-factor (Oppostional, Attention, Hyperactivity and Social Skills) structure to a great extent. The difference of one factor between the two structures was due to the merge of the Attention and Social Skills factors to form one single factor in the present study. The discriminant function of the Scale was very high. It could correctly classify 96.34% of the children to their assigned behaviour groups. Test-retest coefficients ranged from moderate to high for individual item scores (.60 to .84) and factor scores (.79 to .88). Alpha coefficients were as high as .95 for Hyperactivity and .96 for the other two factors. Significant sex and age main effects were found and girls consistently showed more desirable behaviours, i.e. more attentive and sociable, less hyperactive and oppositional. The results were encouraging and hopefully it would contribute to future studies of hyperactivity in Hong Kong.