The Parent Version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Abstract

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widely used screening instrument for child psychopathology. Many studies have consistently reported rather low α values for certain subscales for the SDQ parent version. Further, the factor structure has not been tested frequently by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA); research into measurement invariance is even scarcer. Therefore, this study evaluates the internal reliability and tests for measurement invariance for the SDQ parent version. In a Dutch sample of 1,484 children we examined reliability by using coefficient ω and tested for invariance across several subgroups. Also, we conducted CFA to examine the five-factor structure of the SDQ. ω yielded higher values than α did, which supports the use of ω in a SEM-based framework. Support for measurement invariance was found on the configural, metric, and scalar level, and as expected, the five-factor structure was confirmed. Scholars are advised to consider ω as an alternative to α, seeing that various problems with α have been discussed. Support for measurement invariance was found for several demographic variables, so that meaningful group comparisons can now be made for the SDQ parent version.