SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire): identificação de características comportamentais de crianças leitoras

The purpose of this study was to verify behavioral characteristics of children with typical reading development by means of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). This brief questionnaire is a useful measure in psychopathology applied to children and young people from 4 to 16 years. The SDQ is divided in five subscales: prosocial behavior problems, hyperactivity, and emotional, conduct and relationship problems. The participants were parents and teachers of 74 children, attending 2nd,, 3rd, or 4th grades in a public school in the city of Sao Paulo. The children had no general development and language disorders, and scholars problems. Parents and teachers answered the questionnaires. The answers to the SDQ differed between parents and teachers, and regarding to children's gender and grade. These differences may reflect communication and behavioral changes resulting from experienced situations in children's present developmental stage.