Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2023 Oct;57(10):1343-1358. doi: 10.1177/00048674231161504. Epub 2023 Mar 28.
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a widely used screening tool for emotional and behavioural problems in children. Recent quantitative analyses have raised concerns regarding its structural validity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This paper aims to extend upon existing findings by analysing the factor structure of both the parent- and teacher-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in this population across a broader age range than in previous studies.
Participants were the caregivers and teachers of 1624 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (820 male, 804 female) aged 2-15 years from Waves 2-11 of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. The majority of children were Aboriginal living in major cities and inner regional areas. Internal consistency was estimated with McDonald's Omega. Exploratory structural equation modelling was conducted to investigate the factor structure of the parent-reported and teacher-reported versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Responses from teachers demonstrated higher internal consistency than responses from parents, which was unacceptably low across most age groups. The purported five-factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire failed to be replicated across both parent- and teacher-reported questionnaires. The results of bifactor and hierarchical exploratory structural equation models also failed to approximate the higher-order summary scales. These results indicate that the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire subscales and summary scores do not provide a valid index of emotional and behavioural problems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire should not be used with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
《长处和困难问卷》是一种广泛用于筛查儿童情绪和行为问题的工具。最近的定量分析对其在澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民社区的结构有效性提出了担忧。本文旨在通过分析该问卷在比以往研究更广泛的年龄范围内在该人群中的父母报告和教师报告版本的结构，进一步扩展现有研究结果。
参与者为来自原住民儿童纵向研究第 2-11 波的 1624 名澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民儿童（820 名男性，804 名女性）的照顾者和教师。大多数儿童为生活在主要城市和内城区的原住民，且多数为男性。采用 McDonald's Omega 估计内部一致性。进行探索性结构方程建模，以调查父母报告和教师报告的《长处和困难问卷》版本的结构。
教师的回答比家长的回答具有更高的内部一致性，但在大多数年龄组中，一致性都低得不可接受。《长处和困难问卷》的五因素结构在父母和教师报告的问卷中均无法复制。双因素和分层探索性结构方程模型的结果也未能接近高阶综合量表。这些结果表明，《长处和困难问卷》的分量表和综合得分不能为澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民儿童的情绪和行为问题提供有效指标。
《长处和困难问卷》不应用于澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民儿童。
