Predicting type of psychiatric disorder from Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores in child mental health clinics in London and Dhaka
Abstract
A computerised algorithm was developed to predict child psychiatric diagnoses on the basis of the symptom and impact scores derived from Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs) completed by parents, teachers and young people. The predictive algorithm generates "unlikely", "possible" or "probable" ratings for four broad categories of disorder, namely conduct disorders, emotional disorders, hyperactivity disorders, and any psychiatric disorder. The algorithm was applied to patients attending child mental health clinics in Britain (N = 101) and Bangladesh (N = 89). The level of chance-corrected agreement between SDQ prediction and an independent clinical diagnosis was substantial and highly significant (Kendall's tau b between 0.49 and 0.73; p < 0.001). A "probable" SDQ prediction for any given disorder correctly identified 81-91% of the children who definitely had that clinical diagnosis. There were more false positives than false negatives, i.e. the SDQ categories were over-inclusive. The algorithm appears to be sufficiently accurate and robust to be of practical value in planning the assessment of new referrals to a child mental health service.
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The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scales are well-validated and comparable with the Child Behaviour Check List.
“It has been suggested that these scales are well-validated (Riso et al., 2010) and are comparable with the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL), a respected measure used in assessing childhood problems and clinical child psychiatric diagnoses (Goodman et al., 2000; Goodman and Scott, 1999; Stone et al., 2010).”
From Longitudinal associations between reading for pleasure and child maladjustment: Results from a propensity score matching analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Goodman et al., 2000
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Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire
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Self-citationMental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain, 2004: (557702010-001)
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- Authors
- Goodman, R., Renfrew, D., & Mullick, M.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Ayrshire Central Hospital (GB)
- Bangladesh Medical University (BD)
- Venue
- European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Published
- 2000-06-15
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-134
- ISSN
- 1018-8827 (ISSN-L)
- 1435-165X
- OpenAlex
- W2126595929
- Cited by
- 552
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 5.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, child psychiatric diagnosis, conduct disorder, emotional disorders, hyperactivity disorder, diagnostic accuracy, cross-cultural validation, London, Dhaka
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Algorithms, Bangladesh, Mental Disorders, Child, Child Psychiatry, Cultural Characteristics, England, Female, Humans, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychometrics
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