Bridging the Mental Health Gap: Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for Nigerian Adolescents

• DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/brc8g_v1
• Publication Date: 2025-02-21T18:33:39Z
• Authors: Laura Katus; Bukola Deborah Ol...; Adebunmi Oyebisi ...

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of mental health disorders, making early identification during this time essential enabling targeted interventions and preventing long-term adverse consequences. Globally, one in seven adolescents experiences poor health, including depression anxiety, yet many countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, face scarcity healthcare provisions. Tools like Strengths Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which assesses emotional behavioural problems children adolescents, offer potential solution identifying issues early. However, its applicability non-Western, African contexts, requires further scrutiny. This study psychometric properties SDQ representative sample N=2,178 (n=1,366 female, age 10-19, mean = 14.758, SD=1.902) Oyo state, Nigeria, specifically examining measure’s factor structure measurement invariance across demographic groups such as sex, age, parental education, marital status. Our results demonstrate that original 5-factor model did not fit well Nigerian sample, consistent with previous studies Africa. Interestingly, 3-factor previously proposed contexts (Apka et al., 2016) also achieve good fit, necessitating probing. We found slightly modified (releasing items Q02 ‘I am restless’, Q05 get very angry’ Q06 usually on my own’) showed excellent but some overlap between symptoms, conduct problems, peer suggests SDQ’s constructs may need adaptation cultural specificity. established exhibited full scalar sex groups, supporting utility diverse groups. partial status indicates family dynamics influence responses to certain items. These findings underscore importance refining use highlighting culturally appropriate tools address adolescent challenges settings.