Dutch norms for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – parent form for children aged 2–18 years

Abstract

BackgroundIdentification of children at risk for psychosocial problems is important to be able to provide supportive and tailored care at an early stage. Due to its brevity and wide age range, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Parent Form is an appropriate instrument for use in paediatric clinical practice as it facilitates assessment of psychosocial functioning from young childhood into adulthood. The aim of the present study was to provide Dutch normative data for the SDQ Parent Form.MethodsA sample of 1947 parents with children aged 2–18 years was drawn from a large panel of a Dutch research agency, stratified on Dutch key demographics of the parents.The SDQ Parent Form assesses the child’s Emotional symptoms, Conduct problems, Hyperactivity-Inattention, Peer problems and Prosocial behaviour. Summary scores can be calculated: Internalising, Externalising and Total difficulties.Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient) and normative scores (mean, median, clinical cut-off scores) of the SDQ- Parent Form were calculated in four age-groups 2–3, 4–5, 6–11 and 12–18 years. Gender differences were tested with independent t-tests.ResultsA total of 1174 parents (60.3%) completed the SDQ. In the age-groups 2–3 and 4–5, norm scores are not available for Conduct problems and Peer problems due to insufficient internal consistency. In addition, in age-group 2–3, norm scores for Emotional symptoms and Internalising are not available because of insufficient internal consistency. In the age-groups 6–11 and 12–18, norm scores are available for all scales, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients 0.53–0.86. The comparison by gender revealed that boys had more behavioural problems than girls (0.000 < p < 0.048), most prevalent for Hyperactivity-Inattention, Peer Problems, Prosocial behaviour, Externalising and Total Difficulties.ConclusionsDutch normative data by age-group and gender are now available for parent-reported SDQ scores in children aged 2–18 years. Due to insufficient internal consistency, normative scores for 2–5 year-old children could not be presented for several SDQ scales. Yet, the SDQ Total score provides a reliable indication of the psychosocial functioning of younger children. In case of high Total scores in children younger than 6 years, alternatively to scale scores, the answers on the individual items could yield useful clinical information about the child’s problems.

Parenting stress during infancy is a risk factor for mental health problems in 3-year-old children

“…The total difficulties score can be dichotomized as being at risk of clinical problems (TDS > 12) or not at risk (< 12). Cutoff was determined based on published norms and measures for borderline and definite clinical risk, as well as identifying scores for the top 20% (characterized as being at risk of clinical problems) in our total sample of 3-year-old children (23,24).…”

Swedish norms for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for children 3–5 years rated by parents and preschool teachers

“…Although the SDQ is commonly used as a screening and research tool in different countries and exists in numerous language versions, normative data are only available from a limited number of countries, ages and informants (see http://www.sdqinfo.org). Previous studies on the psychometric properties of the SDQ have shown that norms vary across cultural settings (Aiko & Yoko, ; Borg, Kaukonen, Joukamaa & Tamminen, ; Bourdon, Goodman, Rae, Simpson & Koretz, ; Kremer et al , ; Lai et al , ; Maurice‐Stam et al , ; Niclasen, Teasdale, Andersen, Skovgaard, Elberling & Obel, ; Tobia & Marzocchi, ; Woerner, Becker & Rothenberger, ). Hence, to use the SDQ in research for cross‐country comparisons of children’s mental health problems or in paediatric care as an instrument to identify children with mental health problems, population‐specific norms and percentile cut‐off values are needed (Goodman et al , ).…”

Young Patients With Persistent and Complex Care Needs Require an Integrated Care Approach: Baseline Findings From the Multicenter Youth Flexible ACT Study

“…The average total score on the parent-reported SDQ (SDQ-P) (41) was comparable to the scores of clinical samples (49,52,56). Most parents (69.0%) observed an increased level of psychosocial problems in their child (cutoff ≥14).…”