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Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

SDQ
psychologyeducationhealth sciencesFree for research use

A 25-item behavioural screening questionnaire for children and adolescents (ages 3-16) with five subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour.

Items
25
Response format
3-point scale
Version
1.0
Subscales
5

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Child difficulties were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997), whose Total Difficulties score aggregates four subscales and shows acceptable internal consistency (α ≈ .73-.82).

Citing this in a methods section? This scale spans more than one discipline, so the style depends on where you publish — see the APA 7 or Vancouver guides, or compare all six citation styles.

Reliability & validation

Validation population
British 5-15 year-olds (Goodman, 1997, 2001)
Cronbach's α
0.73

Subscales

Emotional symptomsConduct problemsHyperactivity/inattentionPeer relationship problemsProsocial behaviour

Response anchors

Not true · Somewhat true · Certainly true

Known limitations

A brief screening measure; individual subscales (especially peer problems and conduct) can show low reliability, and parent, teacher, and self-report versions do not always agree.

Original citation

Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581-586.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x

Questions researchers ask

What does the SDQ measure?

A 25-item behavioural screening questionnaire for children and adolescents (ages 3-16) with five subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour.

How many items does the SDQ have?

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has 25 items across 5 subscales: Emotional symptoms, Conduct problems, Hyperactivity/inattention, Peer relationship problems, Prosocial behaviour.

Is the SDQ free to use?

The SDQ is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.

Is the SDQ reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.73. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the SDQ, and how do I cite it?

Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581-586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x

Reference only

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Library entry verified July 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.