The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note

Summary & key facts

Researchers gave the new Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the older Rutter questionnaires to parents and teachers of 403 children from dental and psychiatric clinics. SDQ scores were highly correlated with Rutter scores, and parent-teacher agreement was similar or sometimes better for the SDQ. Both tools were about equally good at separating children who attended psychiatric clinics from those who attended dental clinics, and the authors call these results preliminary while noting several practical advantages of the SDQ.

Key facts:

• The study tested both the SDQ and Rutter questionnaires on parents and teachers of 403 children drawn from dental and psychiatric clinics.
• Scores from the SDQ and the Rutter questionnaires were reported as highly correlated.
• Parent-teacher correlations were either comparable for the two measures or favoured the SDQ.
• The SDQ and Rutter questionnaires did not differ in their ability to discriminate between psychiatric clinic attenders and dental clinic attenders.
• The authors describe the findings as preliminary, indicating early-stage results rather than definitive proof.
• According to the authors, the SDQ offers several potential advantages: it asks about strengths as well as difficulties, gives better coverage of inattention, peer relationships, and prosocial behaviour, is shorter, and uses a single form su

Abstract

A novel behavioural screening questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), was administered along with Rutter questionnaires to parents and teachers of 403 children drawn from dental and psychiatric clinics. Scores derived from the SDQ and Rutter questionnaires were highly correlated; parent-teacher correlations for the two sets of measures were comparable or favoured the SDQ. The two sets of measures did not differ in their ability to discriminate between psychiatric and dental clinic attenders. These preliminary findings suggest that the SDQ functions as well as the Rutter questionnaires while offering the following additional advantages: a focus on strengths as well as difficulties; better coverage of inattention, peer relationships, and prosocial behaviour; a shorter format; and a single form suitable for both parents and teachers, perhaps thereby increasing parent-teacher correlations.

Topics

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Clinical psychology Developmental psychology Mental health Prosocial behavior Psychiatry Psychology Psychometrics Rutter Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire