Psychometric properties of the Turkish short mood and feelings questionnaire parent form

Abstract

ABSTRACT Screening for symptoms of depression in children and adolescents is quite important for both the prevention and early intervention of mental health problems. Despite the differences between child and parent reports, parental information is still a valuable resource for understanding depression in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to translate and adapt the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire Parent Form (SMFQ-P) into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties. The parents of 341 children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years participated in the study. The parents who participated in the study were predominantly mothers, accounting for 83.3% (n = 284), while fathers made up 15.8% (n = 54) of the sample. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the single-factor structure of the SMFQ-P demonstrated good fit indices. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the 13-item SMFQ-P was calculated as .80.Additionally, no differences were found in SMFQ-P scores between children’s pre-adolescent (from 6–11 years) and adolescents (from 12–17 years) and children’s gender. The convergent validity of the SMFQ-P was assessed with the depression subscale of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale- Parent Version (RCADS-PV) and the emotional problems subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Parent Version (SDQ-PV), and significant, moderately positive correlations were observed. The divergent validity of the SMFQ-P was assessed with the hyperactivity and prosocial behavior subscales of the SDQ-PV, and significant but weak correlations were identified. The psychometric properties of the Turkish SMFQ-P were supported by the results of this study.