A Systematic Review of Some Reliability and Validity Issues regarding the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Focusing on Its Use in Out-of-Home Care.

PURPOSE: A systematic review was conducted to analyze the inter-rater reliability, cross-informant consistency, test-retest reliability, and temporal stability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and its ability to discriminate. METHOD: We searched three databases for articles about the SDQ (parent, teacher, and self-report version), used samples of children up to age 18 and reported inter-rater reliability, cross-informant reliability, test-retest reliability, temporal stability, specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). RESULTS: Focusing on the TDS, inter-rater, and cross-informant reliability showed acceptable values, but respondent types (e.g., mothers and fathers) are not interchangeable. Test-retest reliability and temporal stability were also acceptable, and not excessively high. Specificity and NPV were acceptable but not sensitivity and PPV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Greater transparency is needed about who the respondent is when the term "parents" is used. The SDQ is an important supplement to service-as-usual assessments by social care professionals.

Structural validity and reliability of the Danish self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire among male and female students in vocational education and training.

Objective: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widely used mental health screening instrument among children and adolescents and increasingly used by welfare professionals in Denmark. However, the psychometric properties of the SDQ-self report (SDQ-S) among vocational education and training (VET) students are unknown. We assess the structural validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability of the Danish SDQ-S among these students. Method: The SDQ-S was tested twice in a sample of VET students (sample N = 486; mean age = 17 years) with 10 to 14 days in-between. Using separate analyses for men (n = 371) and women (n = 115), structural validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis; internal consistency was assessed using composite reliability (CR); and test-retest reliability using Pearson's correlation. Results: Overall, the results provide inconsistent support for the five-factor first-order model, especially among males. CR was acceptable for all five scales except for Peer problems (among females and males) and Conduct (among males only). Test-retest reliability was satisfactory for all scales among females but for only two of the five scales (Conduct, Hyperactivity) among men. Conclusion: Overall, the SDQ-S is a more valid and reliable instrument among females. Results suggest caution in using the SDQ-S among VET students, in particular males.

Childhood sexual abuse of women in Greenland and its developmental correlates among their children.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to study the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) among the mothers of children in Greenland and its association with the psychosocial adjustment of their children. STUDY DESIGN: The study was based on a 2007-2008 survey of a national sample of children in Greenland designed by researchers at SFI - The Danish National Centre for Social Research in collaboration with the Greenlandic Home Rule. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews with the children's mothers. METHODS: The relationship between the mothers' childhood sexual abuse and their children's psychosocial adjustment was examined using OLS regression. Each mother's CSA was measured by a direct question and the child's psychosocial adjustment was measured by the total difficulties score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. RESULTS: Thirty-six percent of the mothers reported having been sexually abused as children. The psychosocial adjustment of the children in the sample overall was good, with few children scoring on the upper end of the scale, indicating maladjustment. A strong inverse relationship between the mothers' childhood sexual abuse and the children's adjustment was found after controlling for demographic and socio-economic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, children of mothers who were victims of CSA suffer from greater psychosocial maladjustment than children whose mothers were not victims of CSA.