[Screening childhood behavior problems using short questionnaires II.: The Hungarian version of the SWAN-scale (Strength and Weakness of ADHD-symptoms and Normal-behavior) for screening attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder].

Introduction: The SWAN (Strength and Weakness of ADHD-symptoms and Normal-behavior) Questionnaire is a short instrument suitable for screening attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Its completion by parents or teachers requires a few minutes. Positive re-wording of attention- and activity-related behaviors and the extended 7- point rating scale anchored to average behavior make the instrument especially suitable for normal populations. Here, we report the Hungarian version of SWAN and compare its scales with relevant scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Method: Questionnaire data were collected from parents of 156 six-year-old children in a community sample. Of the 156 children 89 were participants of the longitudinal Budapest Infant-Parent Study (BIPS).

Results: Internal consistency of the Hungarian SWAN scales was excellent (Cronbach alfa: 0.87-0.93), correlations with relevant CBCL and SDQ scales were as expected (0.40-0.49 and 0.67-0.74) showing that the short questionnaire was suitable for detection of attention and hyperactivity problems. SWAN scores in our sample were normally distributed and scale means were also similar to foreign studies.

Conclusions: These initial Hungarian data confirm international experience with the SWAN. Psychometric indices, distribution of scale scores in the sample and across the sexes were consistent with foreign studies. Following collection of normative data, the Hungarian version of SWAN might be suitable for assessing mental health of children and adolescents, and for screening problem cases. Due to the wider range and the normal distribution of scores, SWAN provides a more suitable phenotype for genetic studies, than symptom scales.