title: The validation of the self-report strengths and difficulties questionnaire for use by 6- to 10-year-old children in the U.K.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the factor structure of the self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for data from a sample of British children aged 6-10 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  The self-report SDQ was administered to 900 children aged 6-10 years via interviews with trained counsellors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses showed that a two-factor solution comprising 'externalizing and peer problems' and 'internalizing problems' fit the data well for both the 6- to 7- and 8- to 10-year-old samples. The factors were correlated in both samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children between 6 and 10 years of age provided meaningful SDQ data. The identified two-factor model maps broadly onto the constructs of externalizing and internalizing behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Preston Primary Care Mental Health Service, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Curvis
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McNulty
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qualter
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; children; factor structure; reliability; self-report