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Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ( SDQ ) to Predict Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties on Positive and Negative Affect Among Adolescents in Disadvantaged Communities
Author(s) -
Abdul Kadir Nor Ba'yah,
Mustapha Zaidah,
Abdul Mutalib Mimi Hanida,
Yakub Nur Asyikin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asian social work and policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.286
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1753-1411
pISSN - 1753-1403
DOI - 10.1111/aswp.12052
Subject(s) - strengths and difficulties questionnaire , affect (linguistics) , prosocial behavior , disadvantaged , psychology , kuala lumpur , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , mental health , communication , marketing , political science , law , business
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ( SDQ ) was used to predict the positive and negative affects of emotional and behavioral difficulties among adolescent boys and girls aged between 14 and 21 years living in disadvantaged communities. A total of 316 adolescents—181 boys and 135 girls—living in the Seri Pantai and Pantai Ria Public Housing Projects in Kuala Lumpur were invited to complete the questionnaire. The results showed that conduct and peer problems were the most prevalent emotional and behavioral difficulties experienced by these adolescents. As expected, the emotional symptoms were more common among the girls than the boys. A further analysis showed that emotional symptoms, peer problems, and low prosocial behavior were predictors of the negative affect of emotional and behavioral difficulties while negative emotional symptoms and high hyperactivity were predictors of a positive affect. The findings suggested that three subscales of SDQ are required to produce a negative affect, and two subscales of SDQ for a positive affect.