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Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

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ABSTRACT

Objective

To describe the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a brief measure of the prosocial behavior and psychopathology of 3–16-year-olds that can be completed by parents, teachers, or youths.

Method

A nationwide epidemiological sample of 10,438 British 5–15-year-olds obtained SDQs from 96% of parents, 70% of teachers, and 91% of 11–15-year-olds. Blind to the SDQ findings, all subjects were also assigned DSM-IV diagnoses based on a clinical review of detailed interview measures.

Results

The predicted five-factor structure (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, peer, prosocial) was confirmed. Internalizing and externalizing scales were relatively “uncontaminated” by one another. Reliability was generally satisfactory, whether judged by internal consistency (mean Cronbach α: .73), cross-informant correlation (mean: 0.34), or retest stability after 4 to 6 months (mean: 0.62). SDQ scores above the 90th percentile predicted a substantially raised probability of independently diagnosed psychiatric disorders (mean odds ratio: 15.7 for parent scales, 15.2 for teacher scales, 6.2 for youth scales).

Conclusion

The reliability and validity of the SDQ make it a useful brief measure of the adjustment and psychopathology of children and adolescents.

Section snippets

Cross-Sectional Sample

In 1999 the Office for National Statistics carried out a survey of the mental health of British 5–15-year-olds. The total sample of 10,438 children was recruited through child benefit records; child benefits are available without means testing and are claimed on behalf of approximately 98% of British children. Details of ascertainment and representativeness have been presented elsewhere (Meltzer et al., 2000). Parents provided questionnaire and interview information on 99% of the sample (with

Factor Analyses

Table 1 shows the rotated five-factor solutions for parent, teacher, and self-report SDQs. A five-factor solution was chosen in each case because this was the predicted number of factors on theoretical grounds. As it happens, use of the “eigenvalue greater than 1.00” rule would have generated similar solutions: there were only five factors with eigenvalues of greater than 1.00 for the teacher and self-report SDQs; and although there were six such factors for the parent SDQ, the sixth factor had

DISCUSSION

The psychometric properties of the SDQ were assessed in a representative sample of ten thousand 5–15-year-olds, all of whom had psychiatric assessments. The findings confirmed and extended previous reports of satisfactory reliability and validity based on studies of smaller community and clinic samples from around the world (García et al., 2000, Goodman, 1997, Goodman, 1999, Goodman et al., 1998, Goodman et al., 2000c, Goodman and Scott, 1999, Koskelainen et al., 2000, Smedje et al., 1999).

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