Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief questionnaire for 4-17 year olds developed by Goodman et al in the United Kingdom. The SDQ exists in several versions - each version includes between one and three of the following components:

• 25 items on psychological attributes divided across 5 scales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviour.

• An impact supplement which assesses the effect of the problems on the young person and his/her family.

• Cross informant questions: This is a special feature of the SDQ versions collected as part of the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC). These questions provide additional clinical information giving a sense of how pervasive any difficulties may be.

Further information about the SDQ is available from the Youth in Mind website. Copies of the SDQ used in the Australian Specialised and Primary Mental Health Care settings are available below to download.