The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire: scale validation with Russian adolescents.

The study aimed at confirming factor structure of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a general population of Russian adolescents. The SDQ and other psychopathology measures were administered to a representative sample of 13-18-year-old adolescents from Arkhangelsk, Russia (N = 2892). The original factor structure was examined on two randomly selected split-halves of the sample, using structural equation modeling techniques. The fit for all models was good, and when applying increasing constraints across the models, there was not a significant decrease in fit for the random split model. However, the factor loadings and, correspondingly, the scale reliabilities were low. The study concluded that although the Russian SDQ scales do conform reasonably well to a five-factor oblique model, the scales are unsatisfactory in other respects; in its present form, the Russian version of the instrument has inadequate psychometric characteristics. Future research is needed for further scale development.