Psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the 13-item short mood and feelings questionnaire- parent version (SMFQ-P) to screen for depression in children.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968559 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-244X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 1471244X NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-

Psychometrics*/methods ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Depression*/diagnosis ; Emotions* ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales*; Child Guidance/instrumentation ; Affect ; Lebanon ; Parents ; Reproducibility of Results ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Adult ; Middle Aged

Background: Understanding the connection between parental wellbeing and its impact on childhood depression is crucial in order to develop targeted interventions and support systems that can mitigate potential long-term effects on mental health. This study focuses on examining the properties of an Arabic translation of a questionnaire called Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire Parent Version (SMFQ-P) as a preliminary step toward validating a culturally relevant screening tool for childhood depression in Lebanon.
Methods: A total of 502 parents, recruited through a snowball method, took part in the survey with an age of 36.24 years (SD ± 8.29). Among them 74.5% were females 88.8% were married and 72.9% had completed university level education. The children's mean age was 7.95 ± 1.14 years. The SMFQ-P was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability measures, and correlations with parental distress using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8 (DASS-8).
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) demonstrated an excellent fit for the one-factor model of SMFQ-P scores (RMSEA = 0.059, 90% CI [0.049, 0.070]; SRMR = 0.034; CFI = 0.967; TLI = 0.960), with standardized factor loadings ranging from 0.58 to 0.82. Male parents reported more depression in their child than female parents (p = .016). Parental distress levels (r = .60, p < .001) correlated strongly with SMFQ-P scores, suggesting indirect concurrent validity.
Conclusion: The SMFQ-P shows promise as a screening tool for childhood depression, offering preliminary evidence of its reliability and validity in the Lebanese context. Limitations, including reliance on parent-reported distress and the lack of a direct child-report validation, should be addressed in future studies.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the School of Pharmacy at the Lebanese International University (2023ERC-127-LIUSOP). Participants were asked to get their parents’ approval before filling the survey; an electronic informed consent was considered obtained from each participant when submitting the online form. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)

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Keywords: Arabic; Psychometric Properties; Short Mood and feelings questionnaire parent version; Validation

Date Created: 20250103 Date Completed: 20250220 Latest Revision: 20250220

20250220

PMC11697484

10.1186/s12888-024-06433-4

39748341