Psychometric Study of the Chinese Versions of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, Version IV (SNAP-IV) Scale and Strengths Difficulties Questionnaire.

Background: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder (7.5% in Taiwan) with great impact on individual, family, and society. The diagnosis of ADHD is mainly based on clinical interview of parents and children with assistance of teachers' reports. Self-administered rating scales are useful for screening, assistance of diagnosis, and measurement of symptom changes over time or due to treatment effect. The goals of this study are to establish the norms and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of teacher and parent forms of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV (SNAP-IV) and the teacher, parent, and student forms of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for future studies on ADHD in Taiwanese populations.

Subjects and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, school-based survey with a multi-stage sampling method. The participants include a school-based sample of 3534 first to eighth graders was recruited from four areas: Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Tainan City and Chiayi County. Among them, 200students will be reassessed at 2-week interval for the test-retest reliability study. The instruments comprise the Chinese version of Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL), SDQ, SNAP-IV, and Adult ADHD Rating Scale. The informants include student participants older than 10 years old, their parents, and teachers. The main statistical methods include Pearson correlation, intraclass correlation, Chronbach's α for internal consistency, and mixed model to address lack of independence within the same classes and schools.

Anticipated Goals: We expect that this study will reach the following objectives:

1. to obtain the primitive information about the prevalence of ADHD symptoms and emotional/behavioral problems among children and adolescents in Taipei and Yun-Ling;
2. to enhance the awareness of school teachers and counselors about ADHD and other behavioral/emotional problems among students;
3. to establish psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of SNAP-IV and SDQ for future use in clinical, school, and research settings.