Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – parents

Abstract

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief but comprehensive behavioral screening instrument designed to assess both psychiatric symptoms (difficulties) and positive attributes (strengths) in children and adolescents. The parent version requires caregivers to report on the child’s behavior over the preceding six months. Developed by Robert Goodman, the SDQ is highly valued in clinical, research, and epidemiological settings globally due to its efficiency and its ability to measure five key domains of psychosocial adjustment.

The scale consists of 25 core items and is often administered with a supplemental impact section that gauges the chronicity, distress, impairment, and burden associated with any identified difficulties, significantly enhancing its utility in identifying clinical caseness.

Keywords

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ, Child Mental Health, Behavior Assessment, Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity, Prosocial Behavior, Pediatric Screening, Caregiver Report.

Authors

Robert Goodman, Meltzer H, Bailey V, Lamping DL, Ploubidis GB.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SDQ (parents) is to act as a crucial screening and surveillance tool for behavioral and emotional problems in children aged 4 to 16. It is designed to quickly identify individuals who may require further, more detailed psychiatric assessment, distinguishing between children whose difficulties are transient and those whose problems cause significant functional impairment.

Unlike many traditional measures that focus exclusively on psychopathology, the SDQ offers a balanced perspective by including a scale for prosocial behavior. This dual focus on strengths and difficulties supports a more holistic view of child adjustment, informing both clinical diagnosis and public health intervention planning.

Construct

The SDQ measures 25 attributes clustered into five specific subscales. These subscales are structured to capture the dimensions commonly associated with child and adolescent psychopathology, as well as positive social functioning.

The scale is structured around five core constructs, each measured by five items:

• Emotional Symptoms: Measures internalizing problems such as anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints.
• Conduct Problems: Measures externalizing, rule-breaking, and defiant behaviors.
• Hyperactivity/Inattention: Measures restlessness, impulsivity, and difficulties with concentration.
• Peer Relationship Problems: Measures difficulties in social interaction, isolation, and victimization (being bullied).
• Prosocial Behaviour: Measures positive social engagement, helpfulness, and consideration for others.

A Total Difficulties Score is generated by summing the scores of the first four subscales, providing an overall measure of psychological distress. The extended version includes an impact section assessing the functional impairment related to these difficulties.

Validity

The SDQ has demonstrated strong psychometric properties across diverse cultures and populations. Early validation studies conducted by Robert Goodman established robust concurrent validity, showing high correlations with established measures of child psychopathology, such as the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and clinical diagnoses.

The scale exhibits strong discriminant validity, effectively differentiating between clinical samples and community samples. Furthermore, the inclusion of the impact supplement significantly improves the SDQ’s predictive validity for identifying psychiatric caseness, making the extended version a highly effective tool for epidemiological research and clinical gatekeeping.

Reliability

The reliability of the SDQ is generally considered good. Measures of internal consistency, typically assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, show acceptable to high values for the Total Difficulties Score (often ranging from 0.70 to 0.85). While some individual subscales, particularly the Peer Problems subscale, occasionally show lower internal consistency due to their brevity (only five items each), the overall reliability is robust.

Test-retest reliability has consistently shown that the SDQ scores are stable over short periods, confirming its reliability when used for repeated measures, such as monitoring the outcome of clinical interventions.

Factor Analysis

The hypothesized five-factor structure (Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer Relationship Problems, and Prosocial Behaviour) has been largely supported by confirmatory factor analysis across numerous studies involving parent, teacher, and self-report versions.

However, alternative factor models have also been explored. Some analyses suggest that the difficulty scales load onto two broader second-order factors: an Internalizing factor (combining Emotional Symptoms and Peer Problems) and an Externalizing factor (combining Conduct Problems and Hyperactivity/Inattention). Research by Goodman et al. (2010) provided guidance on the appropriate use of either the five-subscale model for detailed analysis or the two-factor model for broader categorization of difficulties, depending on the psychometric and clinical goals.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral Screening Questionnaire (Parent Report)

Format: 25 items rated on a 3-point Likert scale (Not True, Somewhat True, Certainly True), plus an impact supplement.

Language Available: Available in over 80 official languages, accessible via the official SDQ website: http://www.sdqinfo.com/.

Population Group: Caregivers of children and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically used for children aged 4–16 years.

Population Details: Used across general population samples, educational settings, and specialized clinical settings to identify children requiring mental health support.

Test Methodology: Simple self-administered questionnaire; scoring yields five subscale scores and a Total Difficulties Score. The impact supplement is used to determine likely clinical caseness.

Keywords

Child Psychiatry, Screening Tool, Psychopathology, Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, Likert Scale, Robert Goodman, SDQinfo.com.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Refer to official SDQ website for current contact information.

Correspondence Address: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (Primary historical affiliation of Robert Goodman).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is available free of charge for non-commercial research and clinical use. Users must adhere to the terms of use outlined on the official SDQ website. The first major publication establishing the scale was in 1997 (Goodman, R.).

Reference’s

The instrument can be found at: http://www.sdqinfo.com/

• Goodman R (1997) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581-586.
• Goodman R, Meltzer H, Bailey V (1998) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A pilot study on the validity of the self-report version. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 7, 125-130.
• Goodman R (1999) The extended version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as a guide to child psychiatric caseness and consequent burden. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 791-801.
• Goodman A, Lamping DL, Ploubidis GB (2010) When to use broader internalising and externalising subscales instead of the hypothesised five subscales on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): data from British parents, teachers and children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 1179-1191.

Items of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – parents

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Considerate of other people’s feelings
2. Restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long
3. Often complains of headaches, stomach-aches or sickness
4. Shares readily with other children, for example toys, treats, pencils
5. Often loses temper
6. Rather solitary, prefers to play alone
7. Generally well behaved, usually does what adults request
8. Many worries or often seems worried
9. Helpful if someone is hurt, upset or feeling ill
10. Constantly fidgeting or squirming
11. Has at least one good friend
12. Often fights with other children or bullies them
13. Often unhappy, depressed or tearful
14. Generally liked by other children
15. Easily distracted, concentration wanders
16. Nervous or clingy in new situations, easily loses confidence
17. Kind to younger children
18. Often argumentative with adults
19. Picked on or bullied by other children
20. Often offers to help others (parents, teachers, other children)
21. Can stop and think things out before acting
22. Can be spiteful to others
23. Gets along better with adults than with other children
24. Many fears, easily scared
25. Good attention span, sees work through to the end

Scoring Options: Not True, Somewhat True, Certainly True

Impact Supplement Questions:

Do you have any other comments or concerns?

Overall, do you think that your child has difficulties in one or more of the following areas: emotions, concentration, behavior or being able to get on with other people?

No, Yes minor difficulties, Yes definite difficulties, Yes severe difficulties

If you have answered “Yes”, please answer the following questions about these difficulties:

• How long have these difficulties been present? Less than a month, 1-5 months, 6-12 Months, Over a year
• Do the difficulties upset or distress your child? Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal
• Do the difficulties interfere with your child’s everyday life in the following areas?
  • HOME LIFE: Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal
  • FRIENDSHIPS: Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal
  • LEARNING: Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal
  • LEISURE ACTIVITIES: Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal
• Do the difficulties put a burden on you or the family as a whole? Not at all, Only a little, A medium amount, A great deal