Psychometric Properties of Persian Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a Sample of Iranian Children

The aim of the present study was to investigate the features of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a sample of Iranian children, which is a measure developed for children behavioral and affective difficulties assessment. Ratings of teachers and mothers of about 413, ten to twelve years old children (193 boys and 220 girls) were gathered and evaluated. To assess the psychometric properties of this questionnaire, factor analysis and assessment of internal homogeneity was used. The relationships of each subscale with gender, normative data for this age group, and cut-off points were also calculated. Moderate to high reliability was found for all subscales, however, support for the original five-factor structure of the measure was not found. Findings indicated adequate validity of mothers and teachers’ reports of relationships of subscales with each other. The total difficulties score was relatively higher for boys than girls according to the evaluations of both mothers and teachers. The Persian version of this questionnaire possesses a three factor structure with good psychometric characteristics. However, the use of this questionnaire in psychological studies in samples of Iranian children has been relatively neglected. The findings of the present research point to the significant value of this questionnaire for future studies.