| Sumario: | To examine child factors and parental characteristics as predictors of discrepancies between parents' ratings of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in a sample of preschool children with ADHD and behavior problems and in a nonclinical sample. We investigated correspondence and discrepancies between parents' ratings on the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems broadband scales of the Child Behavior Checklist version for preschool children (CBCL/1.5-5). Parents of 152 preschool children, with ADHD and behavior problems ( n = 72) and nonclinical children ( n = 80), aged between 28 and 72 months ( M = 47.26, SD = 12.7), completed the CBCL/1.5-5. Candidate predictors of discrepancy included the child's age and sex, and parents' levels of parenting stress, depressive mood, attention-deficit and disruptive behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. Correspondence between parents, both for ratings on internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, was high ( r = .63-.77 ). In the clinical sample, mothers rated the severity of externalizing behavior problems significantly higher than did fathers ( p = < .001). Discrepancy between fathers and mothers on externalizing behavior problems was not predicted by child factors or interparental differences in psychopathology, but it was predicted by interparental differences in parenting stress ( R = .25, p < .001). This effect was significantly larger in the nonclinical sample (Δ R = .06, p < .001). When parents disagree on the severity level of preschool children's externalizing behavior problems, the clinician should take into consideration that differences in parenting stress might be involved.
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