Abstract
Objective: The objective was to describe observed differences between the official Danish Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)-norms and data from a sample based on the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) including children born between 1996 and 2003. We compared the risk classification categorisation, cut-off bandings and the group sizes between the Danish norms and the values found in our sample at ages 7, 11 and 18 years. Results: Two sets of norms are used in Denmark: Arnfred’s norms, based on a sample from one single Danish municipality and Niclasen’s norms, based on multiple Danish cohorts, including the DNBC. Inconsistencies were found between banding scores in the two existing norms and the banding scores identified in our sample from
DNBC: discrepancies included banding scores for several of the problem scales for children and preadolescents. For adolescents, we found less apparent inconsistencies between Arnfred’s sample and the DNBC. Results demonstrate that the existing SDQ norms do not apply well to a large-scale cohort sample in Denmark. The usefulness of the SDQ as a screening instrument for mental health
problems depends on appropriate norms. We therefore urge that the current Danish SDQ norms are used with caution, and preferably they should be revised.
DNBC: discrepancies included banding scores for several of the problem scales for children and preadolescents. For adolescents, we found less apparent inconsistencies between Arnfred’s sample and the DNBC. Results demonstrate that the existing SDQ norms do not apply well to a large-scale cohort sample in Denmark. The usefulness of the SDQ as a screening instrument for mental health
problems depends on appropriate norms. We therefore urge that the current Danish SDQ norms are used with caution, and preferably they should be revised.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 818-823 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Nordic Journal Of Psychiatry |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 30 Aug 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
FundingThis work was supported by TRYGfonden [grant number 125227].
Acknowledgements
The Danish National Birth Cohort was established with a significant grant from the Danish National Research Foundation. Additional support was obtained from the Danish Regional Committees, the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Health Foundation and other minor grants. The DNBC Biobank has been supported by the Novo
Nordisk Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation.
Follow-up of mothers and children have been supported by the Danish Medical Research Council (SSVF 0646, 271-08-0839/06-066023, O602-01042B, 0602-02738B), the Lundbeck Foundation (195/04, R100-A9193), The Innovation Fund Denmark 0603-00294B (09-067124), the Nordea Foundation (02-2013-2014), Aarhus Ideas (AU R9-A959-13-S804), University of Copenhagen Strategic Grant (IFSV 2012), and the Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF – 4183-00594 and DFF - 4183-00152).
Keywords
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
- psychometric properties
- adolescent
- Danish norms
Access to Document
- Rasmussen_etal_NJP_A_Critical_Examination_VoR
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group https://doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2023.2250316 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.