Describing psychological and behavioural problems in Omani young people: reliability of the Self-reported Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Oman

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), including the impact subscale, when completed by school-age children in Oman. The SDQ is an essential tool for screening psychological and behavioural problems in school children but has only been partially tested in an Omani sample.

Method: A cross sectional study. Children aged 11-16 from one private and four public schools in two areas of Oman (Muscat; Buraimi) completed the SDQ. Cronbachs alpha and person-product correlations were used to assess internal, and test-re-rest reliability.

Results: 377/422 children completed the SDQ, 138 completed the re-test. The Total Difficulties (T-SDQ) score was normally distributed with 78% scoring normal, 13% borderline and 9% clinical significant scores. Girls’ scores were significantly higher than boys in T-SDQ and in emotional and prosocial subscales. Internal reliability for the T-SDQ was (Cronbach alpha = 0.72; Person Product-moment coefficient r=0.71; P<0.001), the impact subscale = 0.68 and varied between 0.26 and 0.60 for the subscales.

Conclusion: The self-reported SDQ using T-SDQ score is a reliable screening tool for psychological and behavioural problems for Omani children. The T-SDQ can be disseminated within private and public-school systems. Having a reliable screening tool for identifying children with psychological and behavioural problems is a significant step to improving mental health pathways of care and outcomes in Oman.