Chinese translation of strengths and difficulties questionnaire requires urgent review before field trials for validity and reliability
2008

Review of Chinese Translation of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Sample size: 2128 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Toh Teck-Hock, Chow Sing-Jill, Ting Tzer-Hwu, Sewell Jill

Primary Institution: The Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Hypothesis

The current Chinese translation of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has significant issues that need to be addressed before it can be reliably used in research and clinical practice.

Conclusion

The Chinese translation of the SDQ requires urgent review to ensure its accuracy and reliability for use in the field.

Supporting Evidence

  • The back-translation revealed significant differences in grammar and meaning compared to the original English SDQ.
  • Concerns were raised about the validity of the Chinese translation based on mixed findings from previous studies.
  • The current Chinese SDQ does not differentiate between age groups, unlike the English versions.

Takeaway

The Chinese version of a children's questionnaire needs to be fixed because it has many mistakes that could confuse people.

Methodology

The authors conducted a back-translation of the current Chinese SDQ and compared it to the original English version.

Potential Biases

Potential bias may arise from the subjective nature of translation and interpretation of the questionnaire items.

Limitations

The study does not provide specific statistical analyses or validation results for the back-translation process.

Participant Demographics

Parents of 2128 students in Shanghai were involved in the original validity and reliability study.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1753-2000-2-23

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