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The SDQ is the world’s most-used brief adolescent mental-health screen. Twenty-five short statements, five subscales, and a separate prosocial score that gives you a strength index alongside the difficulty totals. This is the self-report version for clients aged 11-17.

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What it measures

Five 5-item subscales across the six months leading up to today (or the current school year):
  • Emotional symptoms — worry, somatic complaints, low mood, fears
  • Conduct problems — temper, fighting, lying, taking things
  • Hyperactivity — restlessness, fidgeting, distractibility, impulse
  • Peer problems — solitude, friendships, being picked on
  • Prosocial behaviour — kindness, sharing, helping, volunteering
The first four feed a Total Difficulties score. The Prosocial subscale is reported on its own as a strength index — higher is better and it doesn’t add to the difficulties total.

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When to use it

  • Intake with any client 11-17, especially when you want a wide-angle read before drilling into a specific area
  • As a pre-treatment baseline when the presenting concerns span more than one domain (e.g. anxious teen who’s also struggling socially)
  • Periodic re-administration through a course of work to track which subscale is shifting

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How clients fill it out

Five minutes self-administered. The wording is plain — “I worry a lot”, “I am restless, I cannot stay still for long” — which makes it comfortable for younger adolescents.

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How Rivet scores it

Each item rates 0-2 (Not true / Somewhat true / Certainly true). Five items are reverse-scored — Rivet handles the inversion automatically inside the answer options, so you just read the per-subscale and total numbers.

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Subscales

SubscaleItems
Emotional symptoms3, 8, 13, 16, 24
Conduct problems5, 7 (reverse), 12, 18, 22
Hyperactivity2, 10, 15, 21 (reverse), 25 (reverse)
Peer problems6, 11 (reverse), 14 (reverse), 19, 23
Prosocial1, 4, 9, 17, 20

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Total Difficulties

Sum of Emotional + Conduct + Hyperactivity + Peer (20 items, range 0-40). Prosocial is not included — it’s reported separately.
Total DifficultiesBand
0-15Normal
16-19Borderline
20-40Abnormal — clinical follow-up indicated
These three bands are the standard self-report 11-17 classification published at sdqinfo.org.

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Which variant Rivet uses

Rivet uses the self-report 11-17 variant. The parent (4-17) and teacher (4-17) variants of the SDQ exist with different cutoffs; those aren’t in the library. If you need parent or teacher report, use the freely available form at sdqinfo.org and consult youthinmind.com for cutoffs.

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Citation

Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581-586. Free clinical use per sdqinfo.org (registration courtesy-requested).

PHQ-A

Adolescent depression screen when the SDQ Emotional subscale comes back high.

RCADS (parent 6-18)

Deeper anxiety + depression detail when you have a parent informant.

SNAP-IV

Targeted ADHD + ODD rating when SDQ Hyperactivity or Conduct lights up.