Sourander Andre, Westerlund Minja, Kaneko Hitoshi, Heinonen Emmi, Klomek Anat Brunstein, How Ong Say, Fossum Sturla, Kolaitis Gerasimos, Lesinskiene Sigita, Li Liping, Nguyen Mai Huong, Kumar Praharaj Samir, Wiguna Tjhin, Zamani Zahra, Gilbert Sonja
INVEST Research Flagship and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
INVEST Research Flagship and University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2025 Jul;64(7):799-809. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.10.002. Epub 2024 Oct 9.
The self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is widely used globally; hence, the validity of the intergroup comparisons is essential. This study examined the structure of the self-report SDQ in a large multinational adolescent sample, tested its measurement invariance across genders and countries, and compared youth mental health in 12 European and Asian countries.
This study is part of the Eurasian Child Mental Health Study (EACMHS), a cross-cultural research study of child and adolescent well-being and mental health in 12 Asian and European countries. The sample (N = 26,306) came from a cross-sectional school-based survey of adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess a common measurement model for the self-report SDQ and the measurement invariance of the model across gender and country.
Fit indices in the total sample, in each gender, and in each of the 12 countries separately supported the use of the first-order 3-factor model (without the reverse-coded items) as a common measurement model for the self-report SDQ. Measurement invariance analyses provided good support for configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender; however, metric invariance across countries was not supported. There were significant gender main effects for all SDQ subscales except for hyperactivity/inattention. Culture had significant main effects and moderated the magnitude of gender differences in all subscales.
The present findings support the use of the correlated 3-factor model comprising the positive dimension of prosocial behavior and 2 broad groupings of internalizing and externalizing problems, without the reverse-coded problem items, as a common measurement model for the self-report SDQ internationally.
Using a sample of 26,306 adolescents from 12 European and Asian countries, this study examined how well the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a commonly used measure to assess child and adolescent mental health, can be used to compare child and adolescent mental health between different countries. In addition, the authors also measured adolescent mental health symptoms across the 12 countries. The study findings suggested that in all countries, girls scored higher than boys on prosocial behaviors and internalizing problems such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, the extent to which genders differed on these features varied across cultures.
自我报告式的优势与困难问卷（SDQ）在全球被广泛使用；因此，组间比较的有效性至关重要。本研究在一个大型跨国青少年样本中检验了自我报告式SDQ的结构，测试了其在性别和国家间的测量不变性，并比较了12个欧洲和亚洲国家青少年的心理健康状况。
本研究是欧亚儿童心理健康研究（EACMHS）的一部分，这是一项对12个亚洲和欧洲国家儿童及青少年幸福与心理健康状况的跨文化研究。样本（N = 26,306）来自一项针对青少年的基于学校的横断面调查。验证性因素分析用于评估自我报告式SDQ的通用测量模型以及该模型在性别和国家间的测量不变性。
总样本、各性别样本以及12个国家各自的样本中的拟合指数分别支持将一阶三因素模型（不包括反向计分项目）用作自我报告式SDQ的通用测量模型。测量不变性分析为性别间的构型不变性、度量不变性和标量不变性提供了有力支持；然而，国家间的度量不变性未得到支持。除多动/注意力不集中外，所有SDQ子量表均存在显著的性别主效应。文化具有显著的主效应，并调节了所有子量表中性别差异的程度。
本研究结果支持将包含亲社会行为积极维度以及内化问题和外化问题两大宽泛类别、不包括反向计分问题项目的相关三因素模型用作国际上自我报告式SDQ的通用测量模型。
本研究使用来自12个欧洲和亚洲国家的26,306名青少年样本，检验了常用的评估儿童和青少年心理健康的优势与困难问卷（SDQ）在不同国家间比较儿童和青少年心理健康状况时的适用程度。此外，作者还测量了这12个国家青少年的心理健康症状。研究结果表明，在所有国家中，女孩在亲社会行为以及抑郁和焦虑症状等内化问题上的得分高于男孩。然而，这些特征在不同性别间的差异程度因文化而异。
