The children's self-report questionnaire: factor score age trends and gender differences

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Child Psychiatry
• Psychometric Evaluation

Background:

• Establishing age-appropriate behavioral norms in children is crucial for accurate assessment.
• Understanding gender-specific behavioral patterns aids in the development of diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age trends and gender differences in a normative sample of children.
• To examine the validity of the Children's Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) through identified trends.

Main Methods:

• Utilized scores from the Children's Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ).
• Analyzed data from a normative sample of 1,676 children aged 6 to 13 years.
• Explored age and gender variations across different SRQ factors.

Main Results:

• Boys reported higher Conduct Problems than girls.
• Girls reported higher Worry and Sensitive-Emotional scores than boys.
• Other SRQ factors showed consistent increases or decreases with age.

Conclusions:

• Identified specific age and gender trends in children's self-reported behaviors.
• These findings support the validity of the SRQ as a diagnostic instrument for children.
• Results contribute to understanding age-appropriate behavioral, cognitive, and affective norms.