bs_bs_banner
doi:10.1111/jpc.12897
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Normative data for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for young children in Australia Peter Kremer,1,2 Andrea de Silva,1,3 Joyce Cleary,4 Giuseppe Santoro,1 Karen Weston,4 Emily Steele,1 Terry Nolan1 and Elizabeth Waters1 1
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, 3Dental Health Services Victoria, 4Department of Education and Training, Melbourne, and 2School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Aim: The aim of this study was to report normative data for the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) from a large population cohort of young children aged 4–6 years from Victoria, Australia, 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 Victoria in 2010 completed a survey via a 15-page School Entrant Health Questionnaire 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 Australian population sample of children to generate age- and sex-specific cut-off values that define SDQ scores as ‘normal’, ‘borderline’ or ‘abnormal’ for Australian children aged 4–6 years. Key words:
behavioural and emotional difficulties; child health; mental health; normative data.
What is already known on this topic
What this paper adds
1 The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a widely used measure of emotional and behavioural difficulties among children and adolescents. 2 Age- and sex-specific cut-off values that define Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores as ‘normal’ (
doi:10.1111/jpc.12897
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Normative data for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for young children in Australia Peter Kremer,1,2 Andrea de Silva,1,3 Joyce Cleary,4 Giuseppe Santoro,1 Karen Weston,4 Emily Steele,1 Terry Nolan1 and Elizabeth Waters1 1
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, 3Dental Health Services Victoria, 4Department of Education and Training, Melbourne, and 2School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Aim: The aim of this study was to report normative data for the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) from a large population cohort of young children aged 4–6 years from Victoria, Australia, 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 Victoria in 2010 completed a survey via a 15-page School Entrant Health Questionnaire 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 Australian population sample of children to generate age- and sex-specific cut-off values that define SDQ scores as ‘normal’, ‘borderline’ or ‘abnormal’ for Australian children aged 4–6 years. Key words:
behavioural and emotional difficulties; child health; mental health; normative data.
What is already known on this topic
What this paper adds
1 The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a widely used measure of emotional and behavioural difficulties among children and adolescents. 2 Age- and sex-specific cut-off values that define Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores as ‘normal’ (
