Analyzing Mental Health Difficulties in Adults: New Evidence About the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Background: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has largely been used in adolescents to screen for mental health difficulties and prosocial capabilities. The objective is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the SDQ in university students. Methods: This work included a large sample (N = 1256), 64.6% women with a mean age of 22.96 years (SD = 6.15). Results: The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a six-factor solution was the most tenable. The study of measurement invariance (MI) revealed strong measurement invariance both by gender and age. The study of relations with other variables indicated that the SDQ subscales were statistically significantly correlated with indicators of self-esteem, emotional well-being, stress, and emotional regulation. Finally, the internal consistency of the scores for the Total Difficulties Score was 0.763. Conclusions: These results allow confirming the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the SDQ for its use in university students.