Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Children Aged 5–12 Years Across Seven European Countries

Abstract. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been used extensively to screen for possible mental disorders in epidemiological studies around the world. The present study aimed to compare the internal consistency of both the parent- and teacher-SDQ across seven European countries: Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, and to determine the ability of the SDQ to discriminate cases from non-cases of disorders against the well-established Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). The sample included 541 assessments of children aged 5–12 years. Internal consistency ranged from .74 to .85 for the teacher-SDQ, and .60 to .85 for the parent-SDQ with significant between-country differences. The SDQ further proved to be an adequate screening instrument for the detection of any mental disorder (area under the receiving operator characteristic [AUROC] = .74, 95% CI: .69–.78), and for externalizing disorders in particular (AUROC = .80, 95% CI: .76–.84). Ther...