Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

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Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
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The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a screening questionnaire for emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents ages 2 through 17 years old, developed by child psychiatrist Robert N. Goodman in the United Kingdom. The questionnaire is quite brief with 25 questions and, depending on the version, a few questions about how the child is affected by the difficulties in their everyday life. [1] Versions of it are available for use for no fee. The combination of its brevity and noncommercial distribution have made it popular among clinicians and researchers. Overall, the SDQ has proved to have satisfactory construct and concurrent validity across a wide range of settings and samples. [2] [3] [4] It is considered a good general screening measure for attention problems, [5] although the sensitivity and specificity are not both over .80 at any single cut score, so it should not be used by itself as the basis for a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. [6] [7]

There are three versions of the SDQ designed for use in different situations: a short form, a longer form with an impact supplement, and a follow-up form designed for use after a behavioral intervention. The questionnaire takes 3–10 minutes to complete. There are now self-report (completed by the youth), parent-report, and teacher-report versions. A version designed for adults (age 18+ years) to fill out about themselves has also been developed. The SDQ has been translated into more than 80 languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Portuguese. [8]

General population norms are available for the US and UK for some of the variations of the SDQ. There are also Swedish norms developed for children age 3-5 years. [9]

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References

  1. ↑ Goodman, Robert (July 1997). "The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note". Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 38 (5): 581–586. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x. ISSN   0021-9630. PMID   9255702.
  2. ↑ Stone, Lisanne L.; Otten, Roy; Engels, Rutger C. M. E.; Vermulst, Ad A.; Janssens, Jan M. A. M. (2010-09-01). "Psychometric Properties of the Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-Year-Olds: A Review". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 13 (3): 254–274. doi:10.1007/s10567-010-0071-2. ISSN   1096-4037. PMC   2919684 . PMID   20589428.
  3. ↑ Goodman, R.; Meltzer, H.; Bailey, V. (1998-10-01). "The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: A pilot study on the validity of the self-report version". European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 7 (3): 125–130. doi:10.1007/s007870050057. ISSN   1018-8827. PMID   9826298. S2CID   30006989.
  4. ↑ Warnick, Erin M.; Bracken, Michael B.; Kasl, Stanislav (September 2008). "Screening Efficiency of the Child Behavior Checklist and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Systematic Review". Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 13 (3): 140–147. doi:10.1111/j.1475-3588.2007.00461.x. PMID   32847173.
  5. ↑ Owens, J. S., Evans, S. W., & Margherio, S. M. (2020). Assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In E. A. Youngstrom, M. J. Prinstein, E. J. Mash, & R. Barkley (Eds.), Assessment of Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence (5th ed., pp. 93-131). Guilford Press.
  6. ↑ Mulraney, Melissa; Arrondo, Gonzalo; Musullulu, Hande; Iturmendi-Sabater, Iciar; Cortese, Samuele; Westwood, Samuel J.; Donno, Federica; Banaschewski, Tobias; Simonoff, Emily; Zuddas, Alessandro; Döpfner, Manfred; Hinshaw, Stephen P.; Coghill, David (2022). "Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Screening Tools for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents". Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 61 (8): 982–996. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2021.11.031. hdl:11584/330829. PMID   34958872. S2CID   245486464.
  7. ↑ "A systematic review of evidence for the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire". doi:10.1177/01650254155706 (inactive 31 January 2024).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  8. ↑ "Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire". Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Dahlberg, Anton; Fält, Elisabet; Ghaderi, Ata; Sarkadi, Anna; Salari, Raziye (April 2020). "Swedish norms for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for children 3–5 years rated by parents and preschool teachers". Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. 61 (2): 253–261. doi:10.1111/sjop.12606. ISSN   0036-5564. PMC   7079007 . PMID   31833080.
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