Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

Overview

The SDQ is a brief behavioral screening tool for children and adolescents aged 2-17.
There are various versions tailored for researchers, clinicians, and educators.

25 items focus on psychological attributes, divided into 5 scales:
1. Emotional Symptoms (5 items)
2. Conduct Problems (5 items)
3. Hyperactivity/Inattention (5 items)
4. Peer Relationship Problems (5 items)
5. Prosocial Behaviour (5 items)
Total Difficulties Score: Calculated by summing items from scales 1 to 4 (20 items in total).
Versions available for various age groups and informants:
- Parents/teachers of 4-17 year olds.
- Modified versions for parents/nursery teachers of 2-4 year olds (22 identical items, modifications for age appropriateness).
- Self-report by adolescents, suitable for 11-17 year olds, with adjusted wording.
Alternative Scales for general population or low-risk samples:
- Internalising Problems (Emotional + Peer symptoms, 10 items)
- Externalising Problems (Conduct + Hyperactivity symptoms, 10 items)
- Prosocial scale (5 items)

Some versions are two-sided, with an impact supplement on the back.
The impact supplement asks about perceived problems, chronicity, distress, social impairment, and burden to others.
Provides additional data useful for understanding psychiatric cases and service utilization.

Follow-up versions include the 25 basic items, impact questions, and two additional questions post-intervention:
- Has the intervention reduced problems?
- Has the intervention made problems more manageable?
Reference period in follow-up versions is "the last month" instead of "the last six months or school year" to better detect changes.
Follow-up versions omit the chronicity question.

Note: Last modified on 16/08/22.

For further details, visit SDQ Info.