What is the strengths and difficulties questionnaire used for?

What is the strengths and difficulties questionnaire used for?

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; [1]) is one of the most widely used screening instruments for these purposes. The SDQ consists of 25 items equally divided across five scales measuring emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer problems, and prosocial behavior.

Is the strengths and difficulties questionnaire free?

Availability: Although the SDQ is free to download and can be manually scored, use of the online scoring version is recommended for a fee of $0.25 per use due to the level of errors that occur when scoring it manually.

Who developed the strengths and difficulties questionnaire?

psychiatrist Robert N. Goodman
The SDQ was developed by the English child psychiatrist Robert N. Goodman. The questionnaire assesses emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents [16–18].

What is the SDQ scale?

SDQ measurements The SDQ is available from http://www.sdqinfo.org and can be downloaded freely. It consists of five subscales, each containing five items. The scales measure emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behaviours.

Is the SDQ a Likert scale?

The parent and teacher rated SDQ consists of 25-items that are rated on a 3-point Likert scale (not true, somewhat true, and certainly true), with a mixture of positive and negatively phrased items. The 25 items are designed to be divided between five sub-scales.

How long does it take to complete the SDQ?

The parent DAWBA can take between 20 minutes to 2 hours to complete depending on the complexity of symptoms, and the teacher version takes less than 30 minutes.

Is the SDQ reliable?

Research in which omega is applied to the SDQ, has shown good results [12,42]. Reliability measures less than 0.70 are considered moderate, reliability measures between 0.70 and 0.80 are regarded sufficient, and measures above 0.80 are good [43].

Does SDQ measure mental health?

The SDQ has been shown to be reliable in identifying psychiatric disorders in community samples (Goodman et al., 1999; Koskelainen et al., 2000) and behavioural problems in children and adolescents (Goodman et al., 2003; Hawes & Dadds, 2001).

Who can administer SDQ?

The SDQ takes 3-10 minutes to complete, can be administered by non-clinical staff and is available in over 75 languages. The SDQ will detect symptoms in most of those who have serious mental health disorders.

What does prosocial mean in SDQ?

The SDQ prosocial scale is the only scale that does not assess difficulties in childhood. Rather, it assesses children’s resources. Furthermore, higher scores indicate more resources. In this scale, it was observed that with the use of higher cutoff points the MCR increased.

Is the SDQ copyrighted?

The SDQ is a short (25-item) measure, which is free to access and easy to score (the SDQ is available at: https://www.sdqinfo.org, with a bespoke scoring website at: https://sdqscore.org/). language, is a copyrighted document that is not in the public domain.

What does a high SDQ score mean?

Medium or High scores. Where the total SDQ score is Medium or High and where the Pro Social Score is Low or Medium (the pro-social score is a concern but not in isolation), the social worker should consider how best to meet the emotional needs of the child or young person and take action.

How long does a SDQ take to complete?

between five and ten minutes
The questionnaire takes between five and ten minutes to complete. All versions of the questionnaire can be given to the appropriate respondent to complete themselves.

What is SDQ impact score?

When using a version of the SDQ that includes an ‘impact supplement’, the items on overall distress and impairment can be summed to generate an impact score that ranges from 0 to 10 for parent- and self-report, and from 0 to 6 for teacher-report.

Is the SDQ evidence based?

Conclusion. The findings indicate the SDQ is a valid outcome measure for use in RCTs and clinical settings. However, care should be taken when using the SDQ predictive algorithm to screen for ADHD in clinically referred samples.

What age is the SDQ for?

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a 25-item measure designed to assess behaviours, emotions and relationships over the last six months in children and young people aged 4–17 years.

How do you read SDQ scores?

  1. Parent/Carer completed SDQ. Emotional problems score. 0-3. 5-6. 7-10. Conduct problems score. 0-2. 4-5. 6-10.
  2. Teacher completed SDQ. Emotional problems score. 0-3. 6-10. Conduct problems score. 0-2. 5-10. Hyperactivity score. 0-5.
  3. Self-completed SDQ. Emotional problems score. 0-4. 7-10. Conduct problems score. 0-3. 6-10. Hyperactivity score.

How do you Analyse the SDQ scores?

Is the SDQ a diagnostic tool?

The SDQ has been used widely with groups of children with developmental problems categorized according to traditional diagnostic nosology (e.g., those with ADHD or ASD). This study is the first test of its utility with a heterogeneous, transdiagnostic sample of poor learners. It is both timely and important.

What is the internalising score?

The internalising score ranges from 0 to 20 and is the sum of the emotional and peer problems scales. Using these two amalgamated scales may be preferable to using the four separate scales in community samples, whereas using the four separate scales may add more value in high-risk samples (see Goodman & Goodman.