Abstract
The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is one of the most common screening instruments for emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Although exploratory factor analyses support the originally proposed 5-factor structure of SDQ as well as a 3-factor model, the evidence from confirmatory factor analyses is more mixed. Some of the difficulties items in SDQ are positively worded and it has been proposed that this leads to method effects, i.e. these items share variance that is due to the method used rather than to a substantive construct. Also, there seems to be minor factors in some subscales. This study tests a series of 3- and 5- factor models pertaining to the factor structure of SDQ, also considering method effects and minor factors. The sample consists of a nationally representative cohort of Swedish adolescents born in 2001 (n = 5549). Results show a relatively better fit of the 5-factor model compared with the 3-factor model although neither of these had a satisfactory fit. Model fit was improved when specifying cross-loadings of the positively worded difficulties items on the prosocial scale as well as minor factors on the hyperactivity scale. Although no model provided a completely satisfactory fit to the data, the results show that the 5-factor model performs better than the 3-factor model and has an acceptable fit. We conclude that for the purposes of epidemiological research, SDQ has acceptable factorial validity, provided that researchers consider method effects and minor factors.
Highlights
The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widely used instrument to assess emotional and behavioural problems in children and youth
By means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study aims to assess the factor structure of self-assessed SDQ in a nationally representative sample of Swedish adolescents aged 15–16 years, testing a range of models proposed in prior research on SDQ
We follow the advice of MacCullum et al [36, p. 503] to test “multiple a priori models” rather than to exploratively search for the one that fits the current sample data best. We focus on both the original 5-factor model and the 3-factor model as well as more complex 5- and 3-factor models allowing for method effects and minor factors
Summary
The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widely used instrument to assess emotional and behavioural problems in children and youth. Developed in England by Goodman [1], SDQ has been translated to a large number of languages and is indented to be used for both clinical assessments and epidemiology [2]. The factor structure of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire in a national sample of Swedish youth team with ethical approval for analyses of data from Futura. Researchers who qualify by getting ethical approval from Swedish authorities can request access to data from the data holder
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