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Cited by 25Psychometric Methodologies and TestingChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Research Topics

Longitudinal Invariance of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Across Ages 4 to 16 in the ALSPAC Sample

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Speyer, Lydia Gabriela, Auyeung, Bonnie, Murray, Aja Louise·2023·Assessment
DOI 10.1177/10731911221128948PMC PMC10363935
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Abstract

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used to study children’s psychosocial development longitudinally, however, such analyses assume longitudinal measurement invariance, that is, they presuppose that symptom manifestations are measured comparably across different ages. Violations of this assumption could bias longitudinal analyses and should therefore be empirically tested. The present study tested longitudinal measurement invariance within a Confirmatory Factor Analysis framework in the UK-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N=13,988). Results indicated that SDQ scores showed configural, metric and scalar invariance across ages 7, 8, 9, 13, and 16, supporting its use for comparing variances, covariances and means over time within a latent variable model. At age 4, configural invariance was not supported, indicating that mental health symptoms as measured by the SDQ manifest differently at this age, thus necessitating caution when comparing symptoms as measured by SDQ scores at this age to later ages.

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Authors
Speyer, L. G., Auyeung, B., & Murray, A. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of Cambridge, UK
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
Corresponding author
Speyer, Lydia Gabriela
ORCID
Venue
Assessment
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2022-10-18
Volume
30
Issue
6
Pages
1884-1894
ISSN
  • 1073-1911 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3489
DOI
10.1177/10731911221128948
PMC
PMC10363935
OpenAlex
W4306730266
Cited by
25
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1
FWCI
3.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Assessment (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Baily Thomas Charitable Fund (TRUST/VC/AC/SG/469207686)
  • H2020 Marie Skłodowska–Curie Actions (No.813546)
  • University of Bristol
  • Wellcome (217065/Z/19/Z)
  • Medical Research Council
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/W001519/1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, longitudinal measurement invariance, child mental health, psychosocial development, configural invariance, metric invariance, scalar invariance, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Child, Child, Preschool, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Mental Health, Parents, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results

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