Comparison of Urdu version of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) amongst primary school children in Karachi.

OBJECTIVE To compare CBCL (Child Behaviour Check Llist) Urdu, with the validated Urdu version of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) used as "gold standard" among school children in Karachi, Pakistan, and to develop local cutoffs for CBCL using SDQ as a gold standard. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Schools of Karachi metropolitan area from January to December 2006. METHODOLOGY The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) was completed by parents of 5-11 years old primary school children in Karachi. Appropriate cutoff points for total problem, internalizing and externalizing scales were obtained for CBCL. RESULTS A total of 556 parents filled out both the SDQ Urdu version as well as CBCL. Scores from the parent rated total SDQ scores were highly correlated with the total CBCL scores (r=0.589). The local cutoffs derived for CBCL were considerably lower than USA norms. Slightly higher cutoff for males was found as compared to females for the total CBCL scores. CONCLUSION Like the original English version, the Urdu version of CBCL and SDQ are both equally valid assessment tools to be used for both clinical and research purpose in Pakistani settings, where Urdu is widely spoken and understood.