Factor structure of the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire in Portuguese children.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the factor structure of the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire in Portuguese primary school children.


METHODS
The Rutter Teacher Questionnaire, a 26-item scale covering a variety of behavioral problems, was completed by teachers of 877 children, aged 6 to 11 years. Data were subjected to factor analysis using the principal components solution with varimax rotation.


RESULTS
The factorial analysis in total sample revealed three factors explaining 38.88% of the total variance. The factors contained items representing hyperactivity/conduct (Factor 1), anxious/depressive (Factor 2) and truancy/stealing (Factor 3). The highest correlations between factors scores were for Factor 1 and Factor 3. These Factors scores were higher in boys than girls and correlated with lower social class. All three Factors scores correlated with school performance. The comparison between separate factorial structures for the samples of boys and girls revealed a considerable overlap.


CONCLUSIONS
The pattern of the items contained on Factor 1 appears to be related with the category of hyperkinetic conduct disorder used by the International Classification of Diseases-10. Results suggest that the Portuguese language version of the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire possesses good psychometric properties and may be considered a useful instrument for measuring children's behavior problems.
Pereira
Ana Telma
AT
Institute of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal. pereira@fmed.uc.pt
Maia
Berta Rodrigues
BR
Marques
Mariana
M
Bos
Sandra Carvalho
SC
Soares
Maria João
MJ
Gomes
Ana
A
Macedo
António
A
Azevedo
Maria Helena Pinto de
MH
D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D011594:Psychometrics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating