Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nutrição em Saúde Pública. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Saúde Global e Medicina Tropical. Lisboa, Portugal.
Rev Saude Publica. 2024 Feb 26;57Suppl 2(Suppl 2):4s. doi: 10.11606/s1518-8787.2023057005562. eCollection 2024.
To describe the frequency of behavioral problems and the internal consistency of the parent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-P) in Amazonian preschool children during the covid-19 pandemic.
Data from the Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in Acre (MINA-Brazil) study, a population-based birth cohort in the Western Brazilian Amazon, were used. The SDQ-P was applied in 2021 at the five-year follow-up visit to parents or caregivers of 695 children (49.4% of which were girls). This instrument is a short behavioral screening questionnaire composed of 25 items reorganized into five subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. Cases of behavioral problems were defined according to the original SDQ cut-offs based on United Kingdom norms. Moreover, cut off points were estimated based on the SDQ-P percentile results of our study sample. Internal consistency was assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient and McDonald's omega for each scale.
According to the cut-offs based on our studied population distribution, 10% of all children had high or very high total difficulty scores, whereas it was almost twice when the original SDQ cut-offs based on United Kingdom norms, were applied (18%). Differences were also observed in the other scales. Compared to girls, boys showed higher means of externalizing problem and lower means of prosocial behavior. The five-factor model showed a moderate internal consistency of the items for all scales (0.60 ≤ α ≤ 0.40), except for total difficulty scores, which it considered substantial (α > 0.61).
Our results support the usefulness of SDQ in our study population and reinforce the need for strategies and policy development for mental health care in early life in the Amazon.
描述新冠疫情期间亚马逊地区学龄前儿童行为问题的发生频率以及家长版长处与困难问卷（SDQ-P）的内部一致性。
本研究使用了 Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in Acre（MINA-Brazil）研究的数据，该研究是巴西西部亚马逊地区的一项基于人群的出生队列研究。2021 年，在对 695 名儿童（其中 49.4%为女孩）的五年随访中，向父母或照顾者应用了 SDQ-P。该工具是一个简短的行为筛查问卷，由 25 个项目组成，重新组织成五个分量表：情绪症状、品行问题、多动/注意力不集中、同伴关系问题和亲社会行为。根据基于英国标准的原始 SDQ 截断值定义行为问题病例。此外，还根据我们研究样本的 SDQ-P 百分位结果估计了截断值。通过计算每个量表的 Cronbach's alpha 系数和 McDonald's omega 来评估内部一致性。
根据基于我们研究人群分布的截断值，10%的儿童总困难得分较高或很高，而当应用基于英国标准的原始 SDQ 截断值时，这一比例几乎翻了一番（18%）。在其他量表中也观察到了差异。与女孩相比，男孩表现出更高的外化问题均值和更低的亲社会行为均值。五因素模型显示，除总困难得分外，所有量表的项目内部一致性均为中等（0.60≤α≤0.40），而总困难得分则被认为是实质性的（α>0.61）。
我们的结果支持 SDQ 在我们研究人群中的有用性，并强调需要制定亚马逊地区早期生命心理健康护理的策略和政策。
