Seattle Personality Questionnaire – SPQ
A self-report instrument designed to assess anxiety, conduct problems, somatization, depression, school dislike, and defensiveness in young school-aged children.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Seattle Personality Questionnaire – SPQ was developed by Carolyn A. Kusche, Mark T. Greenberg, & R. Beilke (1988). It is designed to measure Child personality and psychopathology. The scale is intended for use with Children (ages 6 to 10).
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 44 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Anxiety, Conduct Problems, Somatization, Depression, School Dislike, Lie Scale.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | 2,3,4,8,13,29,32 | 7 |
| Conduct Problems | 1,11,19,23,25,27,30,33 | 8 |
| Somatization | 6,14,18,26,41,42,43 | 7 |
| Depression | 34,35,36,37,38,39,40,44 | 8 |
| School Dislike | 5,7,10,12,15,17,20,22,24,28,31 | 11 |
| Lie Scale | 9,16,21 | 3 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 0 = Almost never, 1 = Sometimes true, 2 = Often true, 3 = Almost always, 4 = Don't know/No response.
The scale includes 5 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified in source.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.