Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Child Self-Report

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Child Self Report (SMFQ-C; 13-item) was developed to assess depression among children and adolescents. The SMFQ-C is one of the widely used instruments due to its easy administration, open-access feature, and good psychometric properties. The present study attempted to investigate psychometric properties of the Turkish translated version of the SMFQ-C with a total of 428 children and adolescents, between ages 9 and 17. To analyze data, independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, Cronbach’s alpha statistics, Pearson’s correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis were utilized. Our study findings suggested that the test–retest reliability of the 13-item Turkish SMFQ-C was significant, and there were favorable evidences for both convergent and discriminant evidence. Confirmatory factor analysis supported that the Turkish version of the SMFQ-C has appropriate psychometric properties for utilization, including reasonably good fit of the model with a Cronbach’s alpha value of .89. Group comparison analyses revealed that female students and high school students scored significantly higher on the Turkish SMFQ-C. We concluded that the Turkish translated version of the SMFQ-C is a reliable and valid tool for rapid screening of depression among non-clinical, Turkish-speaking children and youth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., & Pickles, A. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 237–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angold, A., Erkanli, A., Silberg, J., Eaves, L., & Costello, E. J. (2002). Depression scale scores in 8–17-year-olds: Effects of age and gender. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43(8), 1052–1063.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beaton, D. E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., & Ferraz, M. B. (2000). Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25, 3186–3191. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-20001215000014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Ward, C., & Mendelson, M. (1961). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Archives Of General Psychiatry, 4(6), 561–571. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L., Moffitt, C., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(8), 835–855. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00130-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Çirak, Y. (2016). University entrance exams from the perspective of senior high school students. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(9), 177–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, W. E., Alaie, I., Jonsson, U., & Shanahan, L. (2021). Associations of childhood and adolescent depression with adult psychiatric and functional outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(5), 604–611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.07.895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (1988). Scales to assess child and adolescent depression: Checklists, screens, and nets. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(6), 726–737. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-198811000-00011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, E. J., Erkanli, A., & Angold, A. (2006). Is there an epidemic of child or adolescent depression? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 47(12), 1263–1271. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01682.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daviss, B. W., Birmaher, B., Melhem, N. A., Axelson, D. A., Michaels, S. M., & Brent, D. A. (2006). Criterion validity of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for depressive episodes in clinic and non-clinic subjects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(9), 927–934. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01646.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Demir, T., Karacetin, G., Demir, D. E., & Uysal, O. (2011). Epidemiology of depression in an urban population of Turkish children and adolescents. Journal of Affective Disorders, 134(1–3), 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.05.041

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Didin, M., Yavuz, B., & Yazıcı, H. G. (2022). Covid-19’un öğrencilerin stres, anksiyete, depresyon, korku düzeylerine etkisi: Sistematik derleme The impact of Covid-19 on students’ stress, anxiety, depression, and fear levels: A systematic review. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 14(1), 38–45. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.931572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuseekul, N., Orchard, F., & Reynolds, S. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Thai Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) for adolescent depression. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 15(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00372-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • George, D., & Mallery, M. (2010) SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference, 17.0 update (10a ed.) Pearson

  • Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gormez, V., Kilincaslan, A., Orengul, A. C., Ebesutani, C., Kaya, İ, Ceri, V., Nasiroglu, S., Filiz, M., & Chorpita, B. (2017). Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-Child Version in a clinical sample. Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(1), 84–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750573.2017.1297494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güney, S. A., Baykara, H. B., & Emiroğlu, N. I. (2018). Psychometric properties of the Turkish adaptation of the Children’s Depression Rating Scale: Revised in Turkish adolescents. Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry, 19(1), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.5455/apd.292666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güvenir, T., Özbek, A., Baykara, B., Arkar, H., Şentürk, B., & İncekaş, S. (2008). Güçler ve Güçlükler Anketi’nin (GGA) Türkçe uyarlamasinin psikometrik özellikleri [The psychometric properties of the Turkish adaptation of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)]. Turkish Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 15(2), 65–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haahr-Pedersen, I., Perera, C., Hyland, P., Vallières, F., Murphy, D., Hansen, M., Spitz, P., Hansen, P., Cloitre, & M. (2020). Females have more complex patterns of childhood adversity: Implications for mental, social, and emotional outcomes in adulthood. Eur J Psychotraumatol, 11(1), 1708618.

  • Harrington, D. (2009). Confirmatory factor analysis. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hisli, N. (1989). Beck Depresyon Envanterinin üniversite öğrencileri için geçerliği, güvenirliği [The validity and reliability of the Beck Depression Inventory for university students]. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi [turkish Journal of Psychology], 7(23), 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, S. L., Abate, D., Abate, K. H., Abay, S. M., Abbafati, C., Abbasi, N., & Briggs, A. M. (2018). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 392(10159), 1789–1858. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarbin, H., Ivarsson, T., Andersson, M., Bergman, H., & Skarphedinsson, G. (2020). Screening efficiency of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) in Swedish help seeking outpatients. PLoS ONE, 15(3), e0230623. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230623

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Karacetin, G., Arman, A. R., Fis, N. P., Demirci, E., Ozmen, S., Hesapcioglu, S. T., Oztop, D., Tufan, A. E., Tural, U., Aktepe, E., Aksu, H., Ardic, U. A., Basgul, S., Bilac, O., Coskun, M., Celik, G. G., Demirkaya, S. K., Dursun, O. B., Durukan, I., … Ercan, E. S. (2018). Prevalence of Childhood Affective disorders in Turkey: An epidemiological study. Journal of affective disorders, 238, 513–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.05.014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kieling, C., Baker-Henningham, H., Belfer, M., Conti, G., Ertem, I., Omigbodun, O., Rohde, L. A., Srinath, S., Ulkuer, N., & Rahman, A. (2011). Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: Evidence for action. Lancet (london, England), 378(9801), 1515–1525. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60827-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2012). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1985). The children’s depression inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21(4), 995–998.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuo, E. S., Stoep, A. V., & Stewart, D. G. (2005). Using the short mood and feelings questionnaire to detect depression in detained adolescents. Assessment, 12(4), 374–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191105279984

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lerthattasilp, T., Tapanadechopone, P., & Butrdeewong, P. (2020). Validity and reliability of the Thai version of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. East Asian Archives of Psychiatry, 30(2), 48–51. https://doi.org/10.12809/eaap1875

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lundervold, A. J., Breivik, K., Posserud, M. B., Stormark, K. M., & Hysing, M. (2013). Symptoms of depression as reported by Norwegian adolescents on the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 613. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00613

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mançe Çalışır, Ö., Emir Öksüz, E., Can, N., & Yalçın, S. (2024). Psychometric properties of the Turkish short mood and feelings questionnaire parent form. Children's Health Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/02739615.2024.2307024

  • Messer, S. C., Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Loeber, R., Van Kammen, W., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents: Factor composition and structure across development. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 251–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Öy, B. (1991). Çocuklar için Depresyon Ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması [Depression scale for children: A validity and reliability study]. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi [turkish Journal of Psychiatry], 1(34), 132–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panchal, U., Salazar de Pablo, G., Franco, M., Moreno, C., Parellada, M., Arango, C., & Fusar-Poli, P. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child and adolescent mental health: Systematic review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1–27. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01856-w

  • Poznanski, E.O. & Mokros H.B. (1996). Children’s Depression Rating Scale, Revised (CDRS-R) Manual Western Psychological Services

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhew, I. C., Simpson, K., Tracy, M., Lymp, J., McCauley, E., Tsuang, D., & Vander Stoep, A. (2010). Criterion validity of the short mood and feelings questionnaire and one-and two-item depression screens in young adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 4(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-4-8-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seçer, I. (2015). Psychological test development and adaptation process: SPSS and LISREL applications Anı Publishing

  • Sharp, C., Goodyer, I. M., & Croudace, T. J. (2006). The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ): A unidimensional item response theory and categorical data factor analysis of self-report ratings from a community sample of 7-through 11-year-old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(3), 365–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9027-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sucupira, E., Sabino Neto, M., Dini, G. M., de Brito, M. J., & Ferreira, L. M. (2016) Brazilian Portuguese version of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) for screening children and adolescents seeking plastic surgery Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery, 69(3) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2015.12.019

  • Şükrü, Ö. Z. E. R., Topal, N., & ODACI, H. (2022). Covid-19 pandemi sürecinde ortaokul ve lise öğrencilerinin depresyon ve anksiyete düzeylerinin incelenmesi [Examination of middle and high school students’ depression and anxiety levels during the Covid-19 pandemic process ]. Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi [Turkish Journal of Educational Sciences], 20(2), 630–654 https://doi.org/10.37217/tebd.1003134

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidel, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talja, T., Rantanen, A., Koivisto, A. M., Fröjd, S., Ikonen, R., & Joronen, K. (2022). Early identification of depressive symptoms in school-aged children: Psychometric properties and validation of a new short version of Short Mood & Feelings Questionnaire. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 36(2), 393–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.13042

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tatar, A., Bildik, T., Özmen, H. E., Saltukoğu, G., & Astar, M. (2016). Çocuklar için Epidemiyolojik Çalışmalar Merkezi Depresyon Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’ye çevirisi ve psikometrik özelliklerinin incelenmesi [Translation of center for epidemiologic studies depression scale for children to Turkish and examination of psychometric characteristics]. Nobel Medicus, 12(3), 57–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tavitian, L., Atwi, M., Bawab, S., Hariz, N., Zeinoun, P., Khani, M., & Maalouf, F. T. (2014). The Arabic Mood and Feelings Questionnaire: Psychometrics and validity in a clinical sample. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 45, 361–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-013-0406-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thabrew, H., Stasiak, K., Bavin, L. M., Frampton, C., & Merry, S. (2018). Validation of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) in New Zealand help-seeking adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 27(3), e1610. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1610

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Toros, F., Bilgin, N. G., Bugdayci, R., Sasmaz, T., Kurt, O., & Camdeviren, H. A. N. D. A. N. (2004). Prevalence of depression as measured by the CBDI in a predominantly adolescent school population in Turkey. European Psychiatry, 19(5), 264–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2004.04.020

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N., Joinson, C., Peters, T. J., Wiles, N., & Lewis, G. (2014). Validity of the short mood and feelings questionnaire in late adolescence. Psychological Assessment, 26(3), 752–762. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036572

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ullman, J. B. (2013). Structural equation modeling (Chapter 14). In B. Tabachnick & L. Fidell (Eds.), Using Multivariate Statistics (pp. 681–785). Pearson Education Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Widenfelt, B. M., Treffers, P. D. A., de Beurs, E., Siebelink, B. M., & Koudijs, E. (2005). Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of assessment instruments used in psychological research with children and families. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8, 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-005-4752-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (2021a). Depression. Fact sheet. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/

  • World Health Organization (2021b). Adolescent mental health https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Educational Sciences, Department of Educational Sciences, Program of Guidance and Counseling, Ankara University, 3111, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey

    Nesime Can

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nesime Can & Öykü Mançe Çalışır

  3. Department of Psychology, Ankara Yıldrım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey

    Elif Emir Öksüz

  4. Department of Measurement and Evaluation, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Seher Yalçın

Authors
  1. Nesime Can
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Öykü Mançe Çalışır
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elif Emir Öksüz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Seher Yalçın
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

First three authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Nesime Can, Öykü Mançe Çalışır, and Elif Emir Öksüz. The first draft of the manuscript was written by first three authors. The fourth author provided her expertise during the revision process. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nesime Can.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Ankara University (Date 15.11.2021 /No.348) and Ministry of National Education (Date 19.11.2021 /No. E-14588481–605.99–37239296).

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Can, N., Çalışır, Ö.M., Öksüz, E.E. et al. Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Child Self-Report. Int J Adv Counselling 46, 369–384 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-024-09544-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-024-09544-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation