Self-Administered Dependency Questionnaire

Name of Questionnaire

Self-Administered Dependency Questionnaire (SADQ)

Description

A clinical measure of child dependency on parents, particularly mothers. The measure is adapted from the Highlands Dependency Questionnaire (HDQ), interviewing mothers. While it was designed to identify children who might have increased dependency from antisocial behavior disorders or school phobia, it has been used in several chronic diseases in which children might be prone to maternal overprotection. Measures child independence in non-illness activities.

Developer

I Berg ¹

Address

Grammond Old Barn
Low Gate Farm
Low Gate Lane
Sawley
Rippon
North Yorkshire
HG4 3EL

Cost & availability

Contact I Berg for permission for use.

Administration

Parent report, written questionnaire

Time to complete

Not reported

Number of items

21

Domains & categories

4 categories

Name of categories/domains

Affection, communication, assistance, travel

Scaling of items

5-point frequency scale (less than once a week/not at all to several times a day)

Scoring

All items are weighted equally. Overall score is the sum across all (unweighted) items.

Reliability

Validity

Reported for original HDQ and SADQ between school phobic from non-school phobic children ^{1 , 2}

Responsiveness

Not reported.

Minimally important difference

Not determined.

Research use

Yes, in pediatric patients with CF and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus ⁴

Clinical use

Not reported

Language

English

References

1. Berg I. Self-Administered Dependency Questionnaire (SADQ) for use with the mothers of school children. Br J Psychiatry 1974;124:1-9.
2. Berg I, McGuire R. Are school phobic adolescents overdependent? Br J Psychiatry 1971;119:167-8. Berg I, Whelan E. The Highlands Dependency Questionnaire (HDQ); An administered version for use with mothers of school children: preliminary communication. Psychol Med 1971;1:343-7.
3. Drotar D, Ievers C. Age differences in parent and child responsibilities for management of cystic fibrosis and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Develop Behav Pediatr 1994;15(4):265-72.

Date of information

March 1999