TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Children Aged 5-12 Years Across Seven European Countries
AU - Husky, Mathilde M.
AU - Otten, Roy
AU - Boyd, Anders
AU - Pez, Ondine
AU - Bitfoi, Adina
AU - Carta, Mauro G.
AU - Goelitz, Dietmar
AU - Koç, Ceren
AU - Lesinskiene, Sigita
AU - Mihova, Zlatka
AU - Kovess-Masfety, Viviane
N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the European Union, Grant Number 2006336 (V. Kovess-Masfety). Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Hogrefe Publishing.
PY - 2020/1
Y1 - 2020/1
N2 - The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been used extensively to screen for possible mental disorders in epidemiological studies around the world. The present study aimed to compare the internal consistency of both the parent- and teacher-SDQ across seven European countries: Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, and to determine the ability of the SDQ to discriminate cases from non-cases of disorders against the well-established Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). The sample included 541 assessments of children aged 5-12 years. Internal consistency ranged from .74 to .85 for the teacher-SDQ, and .60 to .85 for the parent-SDQ with significant between-country differences. The SDQ further proved to be an adequate screening instrument for the detection of any mental disorder (area under the receiving operator characteristic [AUROC] = .74, 95% CI: .69-.78), and for externalizing disorders in particular (AUROC = .80, 95% CI: .76-.84). There were no differences in AUROC between countries (p = .09), yet sample sizes were limited thus restricting our ability to detect between-country differences in AUROCs. The results reinforce existing research on the SDQ and support its use in detecting probable cases of psychiatric disorders in children across Europe.
AB - The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been used extensively to screen for possible mental disorders in epidemiological studies around the world. The present study aimed to compare the internal consistency of both the parent- and teacher-SDQ across seven European countries: Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, and to determine the ability of the SDQ to discriminate cases from non-cases of disorders against the well-established Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). The sample included 541 assessments of children aged 5-12 years. Internal consistency ranged from .74 to .85 for the teacher-SDQ, and .60 to .85 for the parent-SDQ with significant between-country differences. The SDQ further proved to be an adequate screening instrument for the detection of any mental disorder (area under the receiving operator characteristic [AUROC] = .74, 95% CI: .69-.78), and for externalizing disorders in particular (AUROC = .80, 95% CI: .76-.84). There were no differences in AUROC between countries (p = .09), yet sample sizes were limited thus restricting our ability to detect between-country differences in AUROCs. The results reinforce existing research on the SDQ and support its use in detecting probable cases of psychiatric disorders in children across Europe.
KW - DAWBA
KW - SDQ
KW - cross-national
KW - psychometrics
KW - validation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054019958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000489
DO - https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000489
M3 - Article
SN - 1015-5759
VL - 36
SP - 65
EP - 76
JO - EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
JF - EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
IS - 1
ER -