The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a pilot study of a new computer version of the self-report scale

A computer-based version of the self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was developed with colourful graphics illustrating each question. One hundred and two children referred to child and adolescent mental health services were recruited and randomly allocated to complete either the new computer-based version or the paper original. A further 112 children from local schools were recruited and completed the computer-based version of the scale. All children who took part in the study were aged between 8 and 15 years. The paper version of the SDQ is recommended for use in children aged 11 and over and, in this age group, the computer-based questionnaire was able to discriminate between the clinical and community sample (ROC = 0.761, 95 % CI 0.676-0.846). Comparison of the paper-based SDQ and computer-based SDQ within the clinic sample found trends towards better test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability and significantly better user satisfaction in the computer version compared to the paper-based version. The computer-based SDQ has the added advantage of results being automatically added to a spreadsheet out of view from the user reducing the chance of operator error in coding and entering the data. These preliminary results suggest that the computer-based version of the SDQ may represent a further improvement on the paper SDQ. All versions of the SDQ, including the computer-based version, can be downloaded from the Strengths and Difficulties website address www.sdqinfo.com.