The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for Parents and Teachers on a Sample of Italian Adolescents
Jessica Valsesia, Elena Bongarzone, Susanna Cardani, Gian Marco Marzocchi
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, (1997)] is a multi-informant instrument for screening developmental psychopathology. This study contributes to the validation of the Italian SDQ-Parent and SDQ-Teacher versions (SDQ-P and SDQ-T) for adolescents, analysing its factorial structure, providing norms and investigating cross-informant agreement (parents-teachers). The SDQ-Parent and SDQ-Teacher versions were completed for 2.143 students aged between 12 and 18 years. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to compare two factorial structures in the parent and teacher versions. According to the parents, a new five-factor structure was found, different from that proposed by Goodman. According to the teachers, the model proposed by Goodman showed the best fit. Significant differences for gender and age were found: males showed more behavioural problems and less prosocial behaviour than females. Finally, the analysis of parent-teacher agreement showed higher correlations for externalising than for internalising behaviours. This study offers some reflections on the best way to use this instrument with adolescents.
Keywords
Questionnaire, SDQ, Adolescents, Screening, Psychopathology.
