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

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.