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Normative data for the S trengths and D ifficulties Q uestionnaire for young children in A ustralia
Author(s) -
Kremer Peter,
Silva Andrea,
Cleary Joyce,
Santoro Giuseppe,
Weston Karen,
Steele Emily,
Nolan Terry,
Waters Elizabeth
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12897
Subject(s) - strengths and difficulties questionnaire , prosocial behavior , medicine , population , normative , demography , cohort , scale (ratio) , mental health , psychiatry , environmental health , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , sociology
Aim The aim of this study was to report normative data for the parent‐reported S trengths and D ifficulties Q uestionnaire ( SDQ ) from a large population cohort of young children aged 4–6 years from V ictoria, A ustralia, to establish age‐ and sex‐specific cut‐off values for future use, and to determine the scale reliability of the SDQ for children aged 4–6 years. Methods Parents of children ( n = 53 372) entering their first year of school in V ictoria in 2010 completed a survey via a 15‐page S chool E ntrant H ealth Q uestionnaire reporting on the physical and emotional well‐being of their child (including the SDQ ), use of child health and other support services, and a range of socio‐demographic variables. Reliability was assessed and norms generated. Appropriate cut‐off values for each SDQ scale and total difficulties scale were generated for each age group separately for each sex. Results The five scales of the SDQ and total difficulties scale generally had acceptable internal reliability. Mean SDQ scale scores differed for both sex and age, although only a narrow age range is examined in this study. Cut‐off values were marginally higher for girls (lower for prosocial) and generally increased with age. Conclusions This study has utilised a large A ustralian population sample of children to generate age‐ and sex‐specific cut‐off values that define SDQ scores as ‘normal’, ‘borderline’ or ‘abnormal’ for A ustralian children aged 4–6 years.