Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Self Report (MFQ-Self)

Abstract

The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Self Report (MFQ-Self) is a widely used psychological scale designed to assess the presence and severity of recent depressive symptomatology in children and adolescents. The short version, consisting of 13 items, requires the respondent (the child or adolescent) to report on their feelings and behaviors over the preceding two weeks. Developed primarily for use in epidemiological studies, the MFQ-Self serves as an effective screening tool to identify youth who may be suffering from clinical depression.

The self-report format allows for direct assessment of internal emotional states, and research indicates that the MFQ-Self demonstrates strong psychometric properties, including a unidimensional factor structure and high internal consistency. Scores range from 0 to 26, with higher scores being indicative of greater depressive burden.

Keywords

Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, MFQ-Self, Child Depression, Adolescent Depression, Depressive symptomatology, Screening tool, Self-report, Pediatric mental health.

Authors

Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., Silver, D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Self Report (MFQ-Self) is to provide a brief, efficient, and reliable measure for screening depressive symptomatology in large pediatric populations, particularly within epidemiological and public health research settings. The scale was specifically developed to be short enough for routine inclusion in studies focused on children and adolescents.

The instrument is utilized to differentiate between clinically depressed and non-depressed children, thereby serving as a valuable initial step in identifying youth requiring further clinical assessment or intervention. Although it is a screening tool, its demonstrated ability to correlate with established diagnostic interviews enhances its utility in clinical research.

Construct

The MFQ-Self measures the severity and frequency of symptoms consistent with Major Depressive Disorder, focusing on the child’s affective, cognitive, and somatic experiences over the past two weeks. The items cover core features of depression, such as anhedonia (not enjoying anything at all), low mood (feeling miserable or unhappy), negative self-worth (feeling they are no good anymore), fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.

The scale operates on the theoretical assumption that depression exists along a continuum, allowing researchers to gauge the extent of depressive symptomatology rather than just providing a binary diagnosis. Its unidimensional factor structure further supports the interpretation of the total score as a robust indicator of overall depression severity.

Validity

The validity of the MFQ-Self has been rigorously tested since its development. Angold et al. (1995) reported strong convergent validity, demonstrating that the scale scores correlated highly with scores from other established measures of child depression, notably the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC).

Furthermore, the MFQ-Self exhibits strong criterion validity, as it successfully discriminates between children who are clinically depressed and those who are not depressed in the general population. Rhew et al. (2010) confirmed this discriminatory ability in a sample of adolescents, noting that the MFQ-Self showed moderate accuracy in distinguishing depressed status based on clinical interviews. It is also important to note that combining the self-report score with the parent-report version of the MFQ provides even greater discriminatory power than either measure used in isolation.

Reliability

The MFQ-Self possesses high internal consistency, which is a key indicator of reliability. This suggests that the 13 items are highly correlated with each other and consistently measure the same underlying construct of depression. High internal consistency supports the use of the scale’s total score as a meaningful aggregate measure of symptom severity.

The consistent results across different validation studies, including those using adolescent samples (e.g., Rhew et al., 2010), further reinforce the reliability of the scale for screening purposes within its intended age range.

Factor Analysis

Analysis of the scale’s structure has consistently supported a unidimensional factor structure. This means that, despite covering various symptoms (mood, cognition, behavior), the items are best explained by a single underlying dimension: the severity of depressive symptoms. This structural simplicity is advantageous for clinical and epidemiological screening contexts, as it justifies the calculation and interpretation of a single total score.

Instrument

Test Type: Screening Questionnaire, Psychological scale

Format: 13 items, 3-point Likert scale (Not True = 0, Sometimes = 1, True = 2)

Language Available: English (Original), widely translated into other languages for global research.

Population Group: Pediatric (Children and Adolescents)

Age Group: 6 to 17 years

Population Details: Used in both general population and clinical samples for identifying depression status.

Test Methodology: Self-report questionnaire focusing on feelings and actions over the preceding two weeks. Total scores range from 0 to 26.

Keywords

Clinical cut-offs, Unidimensional structure, Psychometrics, Convergent validity, Screening instrument, Adolescent mental health, Mood disorder.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The MFQ was originally developed and published in 1995 (Angold et al.). Information regarding specific permissions and licensing fees should be sought directly from the Duke Center for Developmental Epidemiology, as the scale is often used freely for non-commercial research purposes.

Interpretation and Scoring: Scores range from 0 to 26. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptomatology. Different studies have proposed varying clinical cut-off scores: Angold et al. (1995) suggested a cut-off score of 8, while Rhew et al. (2010) suggested a lower cut-off score of 4, which demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.66 and specificity of 0.61 in their adolescent sample.

Reference’s

Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). The development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 237 – 249.

Rhew I., Simpson K., Tracy M., Lymp J., McCauley E., Tsuang D. & Stoep A.V. (2010). Criterion validity of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and one- and two-item depression screens in young adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 4:8.

The original PDF listing publications with differing clinical cut-offs can be downloaded here: https://devepi.duhs.duke.edu/.%5Cinstruments%5CMFQ%20user.pdf

Items of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Self Report (MFQ- Self)

Instructions: These questions are about how you might have been feeling or acting recently. For each question, please check how you have been feeling or acting in the past two weeks.

• If a sentence was not true about you, check NOT TRUE.
• If a sentence was only sometimes true, check SOMETIMES.
• If a sentence was true about you most of the time, check TRUE.