Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds. Results from 48 studies (N = 131,223) on reliability and validity of the parent and teacher SDQ are summarized quantitatively and descriptively. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement are satisfactory for the parent and teacher versions. At subscale level, the reliability of the teacher version seemed stronger compared to that of the parent version. Concerning validity, 15 out of 18 studies confirmed the five-factor structure. Correlations with other measures of psychopathology as well as the screening ability of the SDQ are sufficient. This review shows that the psychometric properties of the SDQ are strong, particularly for the teacher version. For practice, this implies that the use of the SDQ as a screening instrument should be continued. Longitudinal research studies should investigate predictive validity. For both practice and research, we emphasize the use of a multi-informant approach.

Our findings highlight the importance of considering a developmental perspective when designing and offering school-based prevention programmes. The various developmental stages offer different possibilities and opportunities for the reduction and prevention of substance use.

Although the detrimental influence of parenting stress on child problem behavior is well established, it remains unknown how these constructs affect each other over time. In accordance with a transactional model, this study investigates how the development of internalizing and externalizing problems is related to the development of parenting stress in children aged 4–9. Mothers of 1582 children participated in three one-year interval data waves. Internalizing and externalizing problems as well as parenting stress were assessed by maternal self-report. Interrelated development of parenting with internalizing and externalizing problems was examined using Latent Growth Modeling. Directionality of effects was further investigated by using cross-lagged models. Parenting stress and externalizing problems showed a decrease over time, whereas internalizing problems remained stable. Initial levels of parenting stress were related to initial levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Decreases in parenting stress were related to larger decreases in externalizing problems and to the (stable) course of internalizing problems. Some evidence for reciprocity was found such that externalizing problems were associated with parenting stress and vice versa over time, specifically for boys. Our findings support the transactional model in explaining psychopathology.

Since parental personality traits are assumed to play a role in parenting behaviors, the current study examined the relation between parental personality and parenting style among 688 Dutch parents of adolescents in the SMILE study. The study assessed Big Five personality traits and derived parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and uninvolved) from scores on the underlying dimensions of support and strict control. Regression analyses were used to determine which personality traits were associated with parenting dimensions and styles. As regards dimensions, the two aspects of personality reflecting interpersonal interactions (extraversion and agreeableness) were related to supportiveness. Emotional stability was associated with lower strict control. As regards parenting styles, extraverted, agreeable, and less emotionally stable individuals were most likely to be authoritative parents. Conscientiousness and openness did not relate to general parenting, but might be associated with more content‐specific acts of parenting.

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Background: Attachment theory's original formulation was substantially driven by Bowlby's (1969Bowlby's ( / 1982 quest for a meaningful model of the development of psychopathology. Bowlby posited that aberrant experiences of parenting increase the child's risk of psychopathological outcomes, and that these risks are mediated by the quality of the attachment relationship. To empirically examine this hypothesis, the current study explores the associations between the development of toddler behavior problems and a) maternal unresolved attachment representations, b) maternal interactive behavior, and c) infant attachment relationships. Second, we test the mediating role of disorganized attachment in the association between disruptive behavior and toddler behavior problems, as well as unresolved attachment and behavior problems. Method: Sixty-four adolescent mother-infant dyads participated in this longitudinal study. The Adult Attachment Interview was administered at 6 months, the Strange Situation procedure was conducted at 12 months, disrupted behavior was assessed during play interactions at 12 months using the AMBIANCE measure, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess behavior problems at 24 months of age. Results: Maternal reports of externalizing problems were significantly associated with unresolved representations of attachment, disrupted maternal behavior, and disorganized attachment. Inclusion of these variables in a path analytic model suggested that disorganized attachment mediated the associations between disrupted maternal behavior and externalizing problems. Although the association between unresolved attachment representations and externalizing problems was no longer significant when mediation by disrupted behavior and disorganized attachment was taken into account, this indirect pathway was not significant. Conclusions: The results are consistent with Bowlby's (1969Bowlby's ( /1982 original conceptualization of the explanatory role of the attachment relationship in the development and manifestation of behavioral maladaptation. Effects of unresolved attachment on externalizing problems await further explanation. Keywords: Attachment, parent-child interaction, behavior problems.

This study examined the role of parents' current and former smoking in predicting adolescent smoking acquisition stages. Participants were 7,426 students from 33 schools in the Netherlands. Participants' survey data were gathered at baseline and at two-year follow-up. Logistic regression models showed that parental smoking status was not only predictive of transitions from never smoking to trying smoking, monthly smoking, or daily smoking, but also of the progression from trying smoking to daily smoking. Further, although parental former smoking was weaker associated with progressive adolescent smoking transitions than current parental smoking, however absence of parental smoking history was most preventive. Compared to the situation in which both parents had never smoked, cessation of parental smoking after the child was born was associated with an increased risk for children to smoke. Adolescents living in a single-parent family were at greater risk of smoking than adolescents living in an intact family with both mother and father. In sum, the role of parental smoking is not restricted to smoking onset and is present throughout different phases of the acquisition process. Results support the delayed modeling hypothesis that parental smoking affects the likelihood for children to smoke even when parents quit many years before. Children living in single-parent families are only exposed to the behaviour of one parent; in two-parent families the behaviour from one parent may magnify or buffer the behaviour of the other parent.

BackgroundThe Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is one of the most employed screening instruments. Although there is a large research body investigating its psychometric properties, reliability and validity are not yet fully tested using modern techniques. Therefore, we investigate reliability, construct validity, measurement invariance, and predictive validity of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4–7. Besides, we intend to replicate previous studies by investigating test-retest reliability and criterion validity.MethodsIn a Dutch community sample 2,238 teachers and 1,513 parents filled out questionnaires regarding problem behaviors and parenting, while 1,831 children reported on sociometric measures at T1. These children were followed-up during three consecutive years. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega, construct validity was examined by Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and predictive validity was examined by calculating developmental profiles and linking these to measures of inadequate parenting, parenting stress and social preference. Further, mean scores and percentiles were examined in order to establish norms.ResultsOmega was consistently higher than alpha regarding reliability. The original five-factor structure was replicated, and measurement invariance was established on a configural level. Further, higher SDQ scores were associated with future indices of higher inadequate parenting, higher parenting stress and lower social preference. Finally, previous results on test-retest reliability and criterion validity were replicated.ConclusionsThis study is the first to show SDQ scores are predictively valid, attesting to the feasibility of the SDQ as a screening instrument. Future research into predictive validity of the SDQ is warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-015-0061-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.