ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Pediatric Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1623690
Running Head: SDQ VS ASEBA IN PRESCHOOL Identification of preschoolers with special educational needs: Comparing the discriminative validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires and the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment across different informants in Hong Kong
Provisionally accepted
- 1The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 2Caritas - Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Early behavioral and emotional problems are associated with poor developmental outcomes. It is thus important to identify preschoolers with behavioral and emotional problems so that effective interventions can be provided for them early. The current study aimed to compare the screening efficiency of the parent and teacher versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) in identifying children with early behavioral and emotional problems. Method: A community sample (n = 312) aged 3 to 5, as well as a clinical sample (n = 79) of the same age, were recruited. Parents and teachers of these participants completed the relevant forms of SDQ as well as the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5 (CBCL/1½-5) / Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF). Results: Both instruments yielded satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities. Teachers' reports were more accurate in terms of differentiating the clinical sample from the community sample, and the SDQ-T yielded more consistent discriminative validity across different ages.Discussion: Psychologists, psychiatrists and allied healthcare professionals are recommended to use teachers' report, or the SDQ-T in particular, to identify preschoolers who may require further assessment for their behavioral and emotional issues.
Keywords: SDQ, ASEBA, preschool, Behavioral and emotional problems, Mental Health
Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wong, Tang, Choi and Leung. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Terry Tin-Yau Wong, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.