Symptoms of Depression in Adolescents: Examining the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire

In order to provide proper preventive care or implement appropriate interventions, one needs valid, reliable and thoroughly vetted tools for mapping and identifying at-risk or affected children and adolescents. These tools need to possess satisfactory psychometric abilities in order to be used as tools for identification, screening or evaluation. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), and the depressive symptomatology in a community-based sample of 12-13 year old adolescents and their mothers, based on data from the TOPP-study. Findings from the factor analysis supported a unidimensional interpretation of the SMFQ, thereby replicating findings across culture and language. The SMFQ had good reliability, appeared to have adequate content validity, and the parent-child agreement was moderate. Children scored significantly higher than mothers, and girls scored significantly higher than boys. The ratio of girls to boys operationalised as depressed was 4 to 3. Boys who had single mothers, and girls living in families with lower income and an unsatisfactory economy had more depressive symptoms. The use of SMFQ sum-scores as a continuous measure of severity of depressive symptoms can be supported