Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
This catalogue entry is the parent SDQ for ages 4 to 17. A parent rates 25 items about the child's behaviour over the last six months. This page is for clinics, not a public test.
Overview
What is the SDQ?
Robert Goodman's Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire covers emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour. This entry is the P4-17 parent form only. Teacher and self-report forms are separate.
Development and clinical use
SDQ became a widely used brief alternative to longer behaviour checklists. Youthinmind publishes the forms and the 20 June 2016 scoring notes. Translations, age bands, and informants are not interchangeable.
- Form
- P4-17 parent
- Items
- 25, all required
- Total range
- 0 to 40
- Bands
- Four parent cut-points
- Impact supplement
- Not included
- Diagnosis
- Not established by score
Administration
A focused informant experience
A parent completes all 25 items. Not True, Somewhat True and Certainly True are the only answers. This form does not include the impact supplement. Partial answers are not scored.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that informant answers go to the clinic
The illustration does not reproduce SDQ items.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Not True scores 0, Somewhat True scores 1 and Certainly True scores 2, except items 7, 11, 14, 21 and 25, which score 2 minus the answer. Emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems sum to a total difficulties score from 0 to 40. Prosocial is separate. Externalising is conduct plus hyperactivity, and internalising is emotional plus peer. Parent completed four-band cut-points are Close to average, Slightly raised, High and Very high. Prosocial bands run from Very low to Close to average. Externalising and internalising have no bands.
References
- Official SDQ siteYouthinmind. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
- P4-17 parent formYouthinmind. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, parent form for ages 4 to 17.
- Scoring notes, 20 June 2016Youthinmind. Scoring the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for age 4-17 or 18+.
- Original SDQ paperGoodman R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1997;38(5):581-586.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the SDQ
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Which SDQ version is this?
The parent form for ages 4 to 17. Teacher and self-report forms are different and are not this entry.
Does SDQ diagnose ADHD or depression?
No. It is a brief screen across several domains for clinician review.
Can I complete SDQ here?
No. This page does not collect answers.
Does this form include the impact supplement?
No. All 25 difficulties items are required, and the impact supplement is not scored.