# A study on the applicability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire among low- and higher-educated adolescents

## TL;DR

This study examines how well the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire works for adolescents with different education levels, finding it generally useful but with some issues for low-educated groups.

## Contribution

The study evaluates the SDQ-SR's psychometric properties and suitability for low-educated adolescents compared to higher-educated ones.

## Key findings

- Low-educated adolescents had higher mean scores on most SDQ subscales, indicating more emotional and behavioral problems.
- Factor invariance analyses showed a poorer fit of the five-factor model for low-educated adolescents.
- Both low-educated adolescents and professionals reported difficulties with the questionnaire's wording.

## Abstract

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire self-report (SDQ-SR) is a valid instrument for detection of emotional and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to compare the psychometric properties of the SDQ-SR for low and higher educated adolescents, and to explore its suitability.

We included 426 adolescents. We compared internal consistency for low-educated, i.e., at maximum pre-vocational secondary education, and higher educated adolescents and assessed whether the five-factor structure of the SDQ holds across educational levels. We also interviewed 24 low-educated adolescents, and 17 professionals.

On most SDQ subscales the low-educated adolescents had more problematic mean scores than the higher educated adolescents. Findings on the invariance factor analyses were inconsistent, with some measures showing a bad fit of the five factor model, and this occurring relatively more for the low-educated adolescents. Professionals and adolescents reported that the SDQ included difficult wordings.

Our findings imply that the scale structure of the SDQ-SR is slightly poorer for low educated adolescents. Given this caveat, psychometric properties of the SDQ-SR are generally sufficient for use, regardless of educational level.