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Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

 Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

Goodman, 1997

The SDQ is a 25-item parent-, and teacher- and a self-report measure designed as a behavioral screening questionnaire for youths ages 3-16. The SDQ can be used as a screening tool (Center for School Mental Health, 2012), and to monitor symptom changes over time (Mathai, Anderson, & Bourne, 2003). The items comprise five subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and pro-social behavior. The SDQ can be administered in approximately five minutes. In addition to this 25-item version, there are two supplements that can be administered. The first is the “Impact” supplement. This asks the respondent about the chronicity, distress, social impairment, and burden to others that are a result of the youth’s problem(s) (Goodman et al., 2012). The second supplement, “Follow-up questions,” contains two questions related to services received. The questions are: “Has the intervention reduced problems?” and “Has the intervention helped in other ways (e.g. making the problems more bearable)?”  The SDQ demonstrates adequate internal consistency (α = .73; Goodman, 2001) and excellent concurrent validity with the CBCL (Achenbach, 1991a).

The measure is available online (Download SDQ).

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