Swedish SDQ Norms for Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Preschoolers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21392244 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anton Dahlberg (0000-0003-0136-8862, Child Health and Parenting (CHAP), Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden, corresponding author), Anna Sarkadi (0000-0001-6594-2291, Child Health and Parenting (CHAP), Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden), Raziye Salari (0000-0002-6363-4030, Child Health and Parenting (CHAP), Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-17 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scandinavian Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0036-5564 • E-ISSN: 1467-9450 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/sjop.70124 |
| PMID | 42309978 |
| OpenAlex | W7165022497 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is one of the most widely used instruments for assessing mental health in children. While Swedish norms for the SDQ have previously been published for children aged 3–5 years, percentile‐based cutoffs for the broader internalizing and externalizing scales are still lacking. This study aimed to extend existing Swedish SDQ norms by providing population‐based cutoffs for the composite internalizing and externalizing scales in preschool children. Data were derived from a large, population‐based sample of children aged 3–5 years in Uppsala County, including ratings from both parents and preschool teachers. Internalizing and externalizing scores were computed by summing the relevant SDQ subscales, and percentile cutoffs were calculated by age, gender, and rater, with the 80th and 90th percentiles used to indicate borderline and abnormal levels of difficulties. Cutoff values were consistently lower in teacher ratings than in parent ratings, and across most age groups and scales girls had lower cutoff values than boys. Age variation was modest, with a general tendency towards slightly lower cutoff scores with increasing age. These new normative cutoffs extend the Swedish SDQ norms for preschoolers to include the widely used composite scales and support more comprehensive use of the SDQ in both clinical screening and research on young children's mental health
Cutoff · Externalization · Mental health · Normative · Percentile · Psychometrics · Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Mental Health Treatment and Access
Internalizing/Externalizing Problems
Emotion Regulation as a Scientific Construct
Internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior ‐ three dimensions of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire ( SDQ )
Internalizing and Externalizing Problems
Regulation of distress and negative emotions
| Highly cited | No |
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