Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
The SDQ is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for children and young people, with parent, teacher, and self-report versions. This page is for clinics, not a public test.
Overview
What is the SDQ?
Robert Goodman's Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire covers emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, peer, and prosocial domains. Version, informant, and follow-up impact supplement must match the official form.
Development and clinical use
SDQ became a widely used brief alternative to longer behaviour checklists. Youthinmind publishes official versions and scoring notes. Translations and age bands are not interchangeable without checking.
- Core items
- 25
- Informants
- Parent, teacher, self
- Official site
- sdqinfo.org
- Impact supplement
- Version-specific
- Clinical role
- Screening support
- Diagnosis
- Not established by score
Administration
A focused informant experience
The informant completes 25 items, sometimes with an impact supplement. Choose parent, teacher, or self-report according to age and purpose. Do not mix scoring keys.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that informant answers go to the clinic
The illustration does not reproduce SDQ items.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Official scoring produces subscale and total difficulty scores with version-specific guidance. This page does not independently verify cutoffs.
References
- Official SDQ siteYouthinmind. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
- Original SDQ paperGoodman R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1997;38(5):581-586.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the SDQ
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Which SDQ version should we use?
Choose the official informant and age form that matches your purpose. Do not mix scoring keys.
Does SDQ diagnose ADHD or depression?
No. It is a brief screen across several domains for clinician review.
Can I complete SDQ here?
No. This page does not collect answers.
Are parent and teacher SDQs the same score?
They are related but not interchangeable. Review them as separate informant accounts.