A self-administered dependency questionnaire (S.A.D.Q.) for use with the mothers of schoolchildren.

The Self-Administered Dependency Questionnaire (S.A.D.Q.) is described. Derived from the administered Highlands Dependency Questionnaire, it is concerned with dependency, mainly in the mother-child relationship, and intended for use in child psychiatry. The S.A.D.Q. was given to the mothers of 256 randomly selected junior and secondary schoolchildren in the general population, stratified into age, sex, social class and school groupings. Correlation and principal component factor analyses were carried out. Four relatively distinct sorts of dependency emerged, measured by subscales derived by the simple summation of question raw scores. They were called affection, communication, assistance and travel, respectively. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory. Some evidence for validity was provided by using the questionnaire with a group of 97 psychiatrically disturbed secondary schoolchildren; the 39 school-phobic youngsters were more dependent than controls as far as assistance and travel were concerned.