The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

Abstract

This study was a first attempt to examine the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Dutch youths. A large sample of normal children and adolescents ( N = 562) and their parents completed the SDQ along with a number of other psychopathology measures. Factor analysis of the SDQ yielded five factors that were in keeping with the hypothesised subscales of hyperactivity-inattention, emotional symptoms, peer problems, conduct problems, and prosocial behaviour. Furthermore, internal consistency, test-retest stability, and parent-youth agreement of the various SDQ scales were acceptable. Finally, the concurrent validity of the SDQ was good: that is, its scores correlated in a theoretically meaningful way with other measures of psychopathology. It can be concluded that the psychometric properties of the parent- and self-report version of the SDQ were satisfactory in this Dutch community sample. Moreover, the current data provide further support for the utility of the SDQ as an index of psychopathological symptoms in youths.

New evidence of factor structure and measurement invariance of the SDQ across five European nations

“…Nevertheless, it is worth noting that measurement invariance was reached after factor loadings and threshold of items were freed (1,2,6,7,15,16,17,20,21,22, and 23), in the five-factor model with correlated errors.…”

“…Previous studies have reported adequate psychometric properties related to reliability and sources of validity evidences for the SDQ self-reported version [13][14][15]. Nevertheless, several studies have detected low values of reliability (Cronbachs's alpha ˂ .60), especially in the Conduct problems and Peer problems subscales [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]11,24,25].…”

Increased Substance Use and Poorer Mental Health in Adolescents With Problematic Musculoskeletal Pain

“…7 Responses to the following questions were used to categorize substance use: 17 and the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5). 6 The SDQ is a reliable and valid behavioral screening tool 16,31 and measure of child mental health.…”

Screening for the hyperkinetic disorder by using strength and difficulties questionnaire teacher-report (SDQ-TR) in Indonesia school-aged children

“…The retest test stability with the interclass correlation coefficient is in the range of 0.7 or higher. Substance correlations were found between total SDQ difficulty score and total CBCL score (r = 0.7) (Muris et al, 2003). Internal consistency of SDQ-TR is better judged that the mean α for all subscales is 0.8 (van Widenfelt, Goedhart, Treffers & Goodman, 2003).…”

“…The Achenbach questionnaire was considered better because the questionnaire was completed by parents (Child behaviour checklist (CBCL)), Teacher Report Form (TRF) and Child (Youth self report (YSR)). The Achenbach questionnaire appears to be highly relevant when used to assess children and adolescents in clinical use, but is less useful when used for screening or research purposes because the questionnaire is quite long and contains many items that are irrelevant to the majority of children (Muris, Meesters & van den Berg, 2003).…”