COMPARING ACTIVITY MEASUREMENTS AND RATINGS

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between rat ed and measured activity in children. Activity level is a theoretical component of temperament, and empirical studies of child behavior diso rder consistently reveal hyperactivity as a behavior disorder. This ar ticle demonstrates that the Conners Teacher Rating Scale, Motor Excess subscale of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist, and the Nervous-O veractive subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher Rating Form are significantly and substantially intercorrelated, thereby supporti ng their construct validity. Additional large significant correlations between all three ratings and measured activity (steps per hour) furt her support the concurrent validity of activity ratings by teachers. H owever, important discrepancies exist between rated and measured activ ity for a substantial proportion of the boys. This finding strongly su ggests that a second opinion be obtained through a 2-week behavioral s ample using an activity measuring instrument, especially when concern exists over excessive activity prior to reaching diagnostic and/or tre atment conclusions.