title: Scale properties of the Japanese version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): a study of infant and school children in community samples.
abstract: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a short screening instrument which addresses the positive and negative behavioral attributes of infants, children and adolescents. The SDQ is widely used to evaluate child developmental disabilities, psychological and psychiatric conditions or disorders in Japan. However, we did not have normative data for the Japanese version until now. To establish the community-based data and properties for the Japanese version, we collected and evaluated parent ratings of a total of 2899 Japanese children aged 4-12 years, including 1463 boys and 1436 girls. Statistical evaluation of psychometric properties included a factor analysis verifying the proposed scale structure, an assessment of scale homogeneities, and the determination of age, gender and relationship of each difficulties scale, or prosocial scale. The total difficulties score in boys (8.70 +/- 5.03) was higher than in girls (7.86 +/- 4.88). Based on the distributions of SDQ scores observed in the Japanese community sample, recommended bandings identifying normal, borderline, and abnormal (clinical ranges) were defined for each scale, and some gender difference was found in some difficulties and prosocial SDQ scores. After evaluating parent ratings obtained in a community-based sample, the Japanese SDQ was shown to possess favorable psychometric properties. Thus, the Japanese translation of this popular and versatile instrument seems to be approximately as reliable and useful as the original English questionnaire.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume City 830, Japan. tmatsu@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toyojiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuishi
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Mizue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Yushiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Schinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagamitsu
authors.forename: Chiho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohya
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Munetsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Tatsuyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakuma
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires