ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The Strengths and Difficulties Ques-tion-naire (SDQ) is a brief well-validated psychometric instrument for assessment of developmental, behavioural and emo-tional problems in children and adolescents. Versions of the questionnaire covering the 2-17-year age range are an-swered by parents and by pedagogues or teachers. Also, a self-report version can be used from the age of 11 years. The SDQ is well-accepted by informants and is increasingly preferred both internationally and in Denmark for research and evaluation purposes. The questionnaire is also well-suited for clinical use, especially in the primary sector. However, no comprehensive set of Danish norms has been available before this study. METHODS: Data from an extensive survey in a Danish municipality was used to generate national norms for SDQ scores. These norms were compared with British and Nordic population data. RESULTS: Across informants, threshold values show some variation with age and often differ between sexes. Therefore, norms are provided both with and without gender stratification. Similarities as well as differences were found between the Danish norms and materials from other countries. The differences may, to some extent, be attributable to methodological issues. CONCLUSION: We expect that the availability of Danish SDQ norms will further stimulate the use of the instrument. FUNDING: TrygFonden provided financial support for the development of Danish SDQ norms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.
Subject(s)
Affective Symptoms/diagnosis , Affective Symptoms/epidemiology , Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Child Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Psychometrics/statistics & numerical data , Surveys and Questionnaires , Adolescent , Affective Symptoms/psychology , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Child, Preschool , Denmark , Female , Humans , Male , Reference Values , Self ReportABSTRACT
There is an ongoing public debate on the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in which critics have claimed that the disorder is over-diagnosed, while the potential under-diagnosis of children with ADHD has received little attention. In this study we estimate the number of children with parent-reported ADHD behaviour at age 7 and absence of recorded ADHD diagnosis through adolescence, and investigate whether socio-demographic characteristics of this group differed from the children diagnosed with ADHD during follow-up. Our study was based on data from the Danish National Birth Cohort, where parents of 51,527 children completed questionnaires, including the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). ADHD diagnosis was identified through Danish registers and parent-reported ADHD behaviour by the specific SDQ subscale. Socio-demographic predictors of positive parent-reported SDQ ADHD behaviour and absence of recorded ADHD diagnosis in their children were examined using logistic regression analyses. Children with parent-reported ADHD behaviour and no diagnosis (1.3%) were more likely to be girls (OR 1.83; 95% CI 1.45; 2.29), more likely to have mothers with a low socioeconomic status (OR high vs. low 1.49; 95% CI 1.10; 2.02), and to live in certain regions of the country (OR: Capital vs. Southern: 2.04; 95% CI 1.51; 2.73) than children with an ADHD diagnosis. The children showed markedly impairments on all the SDQ subscales. The results demonstrate a considerable number of children with ADHD symptoms who potentially go undetected and underline the influence of socio-demographic factors in the pathway to a diagnosis of ADHD.
