title: New evidence of factor structure and measurement invariance of the SDQ across five European nations.
abstract: The main purpose of the present study was to analyse the internal structure and to test the measurement invariance of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), self-reported version, in five European countries. The sample consisted of 3012 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.20; SD = 0.83). The five-factor model (with correlated errors added), and the five-factor model (with correlated errors added) with the reverse-worded items allowed to cross-load on the Prosocial subscale, displayed adequate goodness of-fit indices. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed that the five-factor model (with correlated errors added) had partial strong measurement invariance by countries. A total of 11 of the 25 items were non-invariant across samples. The level of internal consistency of the Total difficulties score was 0.84, ranging between 0.69 and 0.78 for the SDQ subscales. The findings indicate that the SDQ's subscales need to be modified in various ways for screening emotional and behavioural problems in the five European countries that were analysed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, s/n, Edificio VIVES, 26002, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. javier.ortuno@unirioja.es.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortuño-Sierra
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, s/n, Edificio VIVES, 26002, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonseca-Pedrero
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, s/n, Edificio VIVES, 26002, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aritio-Solana
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, s/n, Edificio VIVES, 26002, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.
authors.forename: Alvaro Moreno
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, s/n, Edificio VIVES, 26002, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.
authors.forename: Edurne Chocarro
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: de Luis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Medical Research Council-Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK.
authors.forename: Gunter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Medical Research Council-Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cattrell
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Herta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Flor
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nees
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banaschewski
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Trinity College Institute of Neurosciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bokde
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Trinity College Institute of Neurosciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Haus S10, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buechel
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Haus S10, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Uli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bromberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Department of Psychiatry, CHU Ste Justine Hospital, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Conrod
authors.affiliation: Neurospin, Commissariat à l'EnergieAtomique, CEA-Saclay Center, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Frouin
authors.affiliation: Neurospin, Commissariat à l'EnergieAtomique, CEA-Saclay Center, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus CharitéMitte, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gallinat
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, 05405, VT, USA.
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus CharitéMitte, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heinz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus CharitéMitte, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: Praxis für Psychologische Psychotherapie, Ilvesheimer Str. 17, 68259, Mannheim, Germany.|Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Maren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Struve
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gowland
authors.affiliation: The Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paus
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Luise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poustka
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, INSERM CEA Unit 1000, Imaging and Psychiatry, University Paris Sud, 91400, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martinot
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, INSERM CEA Unit 1000, Imaging and Psychiatry, University Paris Sud, 91400, Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Paillère-Martinot
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Nora C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Vetter
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Smolka
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lawrence
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005006:Ethnicity; D005060:Europe; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescents; Behavioural problems; Factorial structure; Measurement invariance; SDQ; Self-report