In this study, we used the parent-rated, English (United States) and Spanish versions of the SDQ (Goodman & Scott, 1999 (link); www.sdqinfo.org ). The SDQ has been widely used and has been normed for the United States (Bourden et al., 2005 (link)). The SDQ consists of five subscales: Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, Peer Problems, and Prosocial Behavior. Each subscale has five items and each item is stated as a strength or weakness but not both. The number stated as weaknesses varies across these subscales. For Emotional Symptoms, all five are stated as weaknesses; for Conduct Problems, four of the five; for Hyperactivity/Inattention, three of the five; for Peer Problems, two of the five; and for Prosocial, none of the five (i.e., all are stated as strengths). The score on each subscale of the SDQ is determined by the summation of items stated as strengths and weaknesses. Weaknesses are scored 0 for “not true,” 1 for “somewhat true,” and 2 for “certainly true.” Reverse scoring is used for strengths, which are scored 2 for “not true,” 1 for “somewhat true,” and 0 for “certainly true.”
The SDQ Hyperactivity-Inattention subscale provides a rating reflecting the symptom domains of ADHD (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). It consists of three items stated as difficulties (1 = restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long; 2 = constantly fidgeting or squirming; and 3 = easily distracted, concentration wanders) and two items as strengths (4 = thinks things out before acting and 5 = sees tasks through to the end, good attention span).
As directed by the SDQ manual, the items stated as difficulties were scored to reflect the degree of psychopathology (0 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, and 2 = certainly true). The items stated as strengths were reverse scored (2 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, and 0 = certainly true). Thus, the minimum on each subscale is 0 (representing lack of psychopathology) and the maximum score on each subscale is 10 (representing presence of psychopathology, except in the case of the Prosocial Behavior subscale).
The SDQ Hyperactivity-Inattention subscale provides a rating reflecting the symptom domains of ADHD (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). It consists of three items stated as difficulties (1 = restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long; 2 = constantly fidgeting or squirming; and 3 = easily distracted, concentration wanders) and two items as strengths (4 = thinks things out before acting and 5 = sees tasks through to the end, good attention span).
As directed by the SDQ manual, the items stated as difficulties were scored to reflect the degree of psychopathology (0 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, and 2 = certainly true). The items stated as strengths were reverse scored (2 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, and 0 = certainly true). Thus, the minimum on each subscale is 0 (representing lack of psychopathology) and the maximum score on each subscale is 10 (representing presence of psychopathology, except in the case of the Prosocial Behavior subscale).
