Analysis

The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire–Self Report (MFQ-SR) is a self-report tool designed to assess depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. The report is completed by the individual themselves and includes a series of questions related to their feelings and mood over the past two weeks. These questions cover various aspects of psychological state, such as sadness, loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable, changes in appetite and sleep, concentration, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt.

Purpose

The purpose of this questionnaire is the early detection and evaluation of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, with the goal of providing appropriate support and intervention. Through self-reporting, the tool allows young people to express their feelings and experiences in a way that may not be possible in direct conversations. This helps mental health professionals better understand the psychological state of their patients and design more targeted and effective treatments. In addition, the MFQ-SR contributes to monitoring the progression of symptoms and assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions over time, ensuring that young people receive the help they need to improve their mental health and well-being.

Scoring

The MFQ-SR-13 consists of a series of questions, and each response is scored on a scale, usually from 0 to 2, where 0 means “not at all,” 1 means “sometimes,” and 2 means “often.” The sum of the scores from all the questions provides the total score of the questionnaire.

Bibliography

Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). The 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.