SDQ (Parent) · Child strengths & difficulties
Is my child struggling? Free SDQ parent-report screener
Child Wellbeing Self-Test (Parent)
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, parent-report - for children.
Reviewed by Komel Kaur, Psychotherapist
Last reviewed 9 July 2026
25
Questions
~5
Minutes
Free
Always
What the SDQ (Parent) measures
The SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) is a brief behavioural screen for children and adolescents aged 4-17. Its 25 items cover five subscales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behaviour (the strengths side).
Four subscales (all except prosocial) sum to a Total Difficulties score from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate more difficulties; the prosocial score is interpreted separately as a measure of positive social behaviour.
The SDQ is available in three versions: parent-report (for parents of 4-17-year-olds), teacher-report, and youth self-report (for adolescents aged 11-17). Using more than one informant gives a fuller picture than any one perspective alone.
Where the SDQ (Parent) came from
The SDQ was developed by Robert Goodman at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and first published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in 1997. It was designed to be a shorter, more balanced alternative to the widely-used Rutter and Child Behaviour Checklist scales - shorter because clinicians and parents needed something practical, and more balanced because it explicitly includes a strengths subscale. It has since been translated into more than 80 languages and is used in national mental-health surveys around the world, including in the UK, Australia, and much of Europe.
How the SDQ (Parent) is scored
The SDQ Total Difficulties score maps to four bands. Newer four-band cut-offs (below) replace the older three-band (normal/borderline/abnormal) system.
| Score | Severity | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-13 | Close to average | Difficulties within the typical range for the age group. |
| 14-16 | Slightly raised | Slightly elevated difficulties. Worth monitoring and supporting where relevant. |
| 17-19 | High | Elevated difficulties. Consider a conversation with a school counsellor, paediatrician, or child therapist. |
| 20-40 | Very high | Substantially elevated difficulties. Professional evaluation strongly recommended. |
How the SDQ (Parent) is used in clinical practice
The SDQ is used routinely in child and adolescent mental-health services, paediatric primary care, and school counselling. It is used at intake to identify areas of difficulty and repeated to track change during treatment.
Multi-informant scoring is the norm: parent, teacher, and (for older children) self-report are compared. Agreement across informants strengthens confidence; discrepancies often point to context-specific difficulties (e.g., problems visible at school but not at home).
The five subscales help direct clinical attention. High emotional-symptoms scores point towards anxiety or depression; high conduct scores towards behavioural difficulties; high hyperactivity scores towards ADHD evaluation; high peer-problems scores towards social difficulty.
Limitations to keep in mind
- ·The SDQ is a screen, not a diagnosis. It highlights areas worth evaluating; a clinician makes any diagnostic judgement.
- ·Individual subscales are short (5 items each) and less reliable than longer condition-specific measures. Where a subscale is elevated, a more focused measure (SCARED for anxiety, PHQ-A for depression, ASRS or Vanderbilt for attention) adds detail.
- ·Cultural and developmental context matters. Some behaviours flagged as 'difficulties' vary in prevalence and interpretation across cultures.
- ·The parent, teacher, and self-report versions ask about behaviour in different contexts and often disagree. This is normal and clinically useful, not a sign that any one version is wrong.
Before you start
- · Find a quiet few minutes - answer honestly, not how you wish you felt.
- · There are no right or wrong answers. Pick what feels closest.
- · This is a screening tool, not a diagnosis.
- · If anything brings up something heavy, support is at the end.
Common questions about the SDQ (Parent)
What is the SDQ?
The SDQ is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a 25-item behavioural screen for children aged 4-17 covering emotional symptoms, conduct, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour.
What is a normal SDQ score?
On the four-band system, Total Difficulties of 0-13 is close to average, 14-16 slightly raised, 17-19 high, and 20-40 very high. The prosocial subscale is interpreted separately - higher is better.
Should parents, teachers, or the child fill in the SDQ?
All three where possible. Parent-report, teacher-report, and self-report (for ages 11+) each capture different contexts. Multi-informant scoring is more informative than any one perspective alone.
Does the SDQ diagnose ADHD, anxiety, or depression?
No. It is a screen. Elevated subscales suggest which condition-specific measures or clinical evaluations would be most useful next.
How often should the SDQ be repeated?
In treatment settings it is often repeated every few months to track change. Retaking it more often than every 4-6 weeks mostly captures normal week-to-week variation.
Is the SDQ free?
Yes, for non-commercial clinical, research, and educational use. Downloads are freely available from the SDQ website (sdqinfo.org).
Reviewed by Komel Kaur, Psychotherapist
Last reviewed 9 July 2026
Goodman R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1997;38(5):581-586.