The strengths and difficulties questionnaire self-report: sensitivity and specificity testing to identify conduct problems in Indonesian adolescents

Abstract

Purpose The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been validated as a screening tool for identifying difficulties in adolescents in various countries. According to the results, the SDQ needs clinical evaluations to discriminate between adolescents with and without problems. This study is part of a research group that developed the self-report Indonesian version of the SDQ. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the self-report Indonesian version of the SDQ conduct problems subscale and identify the optimum cut-off score for Indonesian adolescents. Design/methodology/approach This study was a double-blind non-experimental study, in which the self-report SDQ score was compared to the diagnostic interview. Participants that completed the SDQ were 708 10th-grade students in Jakarta, with 40 students from the sample randomly selected through the double-blind technique for the diagnostic interview. Findings Crosstab’s analysis showed that the SDQ conduct problems subscale had a sensitivity value of 77.3% and a specificity value of 83.3%. Receiver operating characteristics analysis showed that the cut-off score of 4 used in this study is ideal for identifying individuals with conduct problems. Originality/value The SDQ has good accuracy for screening conduct problems among adolescents. Moreover, it will be helpful for parents, teachers, professionals and adolescents to screening conduct problems.

Potential Instruments for Community Nurses to Measure Conduct Problems of Middle Adolecents: A Systematic Review

“…In this review, 65% of the studies used SDQ-CP to measure conduct problems, for the following items, such as "often loses temper", "generally well behaved, usually does what adults request", "often fights with other youth or bullies them", "often lies or cheats", "steals from home, school, or elsewhere" (Goodman, 1997). A study by Luzanil and Turnip (2021) applied sensitivity and specificity tests to check the validity of the conduct problems subscale with the following values, 77.3%, and 83.3% respectively. It means, 77.3% of middle adolescents in the community are correctly identified by the Indonesian version of SDQ-CP.…”

Conduct problems among middle adolescents in the community settings: A concept analysis

“…The concept of conduct problems is widely utilized in mental health science and frequently employed in community-based research ( Table 1 ). It is applied in various community settings, such as general community studies (Andreou et al, 2018 ; Bares et al, 2020 ; Blakey et al, 2021 ; Brandt et al, 2019 ; Brunborg & Burdzovic Andreas, 2019 ; Burt et al, 2020 ; Cardinale et al, 2019 ; Catone et al, 2021 ; Crum et al, 2017 ; Defoe et al, 2019 ; Fanti et al, 2018 ; Ghandour et al, 2019 ; Hawes et al, 2020 ; Kersten et al, 2017 ; Keyes et al, 2018 ; McDonough-Caplan et al, 2018 ; Piotrowska et al, 2020 ; Roberts et al, 2018 ; Sönmez et al, 2019 ; Wesseldijk et al, 2018 ), particularly in the school setting (Bégin et al, 2020 ; Bjertnaes et al, 2020 ; Bordin et al, 2022 ; Dadds et al, 2019 ; El Asam et al, 2019 ; Gutman, 2019 ; Hosseinkhani et al, 2021 ; Idris et al, 2019 ; Kawabe et al, 2021 ; Khoddam et al, 2018 ; Khoddam & Leventhal, 2016 ; López-Romero et al, 2017 ; Luzanil & Turnip, 2021 ; Ren et al, 2018 ; Schoeps et al, 2020 ; Sentse et al, 2017 ). It is also applied in specific community settings, including associations of families of children and adolescents with ADHD, educational assistance centers, such as in Huelva, Spain (Muñoz-Silva et al, 2017 ), family service agencies, community programs serving youth centers (Hogue et al, 2017 ), and detention settings in a mid-Atlantic city court’s intake facilities (Andretta et al, 2019 ).…”

“…The reliability coefficients for parent reports were reported as 0.87 (0.83-0.9) and for teacher reports as 0.85 (0.78-0.93) (Goodman, 1997 ). The SDQ-CP instrument has been deemed suitable for the initial screening of conduct problems in individuals aged 5-17 years old in the general community, with a suggested cutoff point of 4 (Luzanil & Turnip, 2021 ; Roberts et al, 2018 ; Schoenmacker et al, 2020 ; Scourfield et al, 2004 ). It has also been found to be user-friendly for community and mental health nurses in clinics (Ristkari et al, 2020 ).…”