How to Use the Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire (SPSQ)
The most popular post on the Happy Sensitive Kids blog is hands down The Highly Sensitive Child Test: The Earlier the Better. Logical, because once a parent suspects their child may be highly sensitive, the next step is to get confirmation – as far as it is possible to do so. And Elaine Aron’s test is certainly a great way to ascertain if your child is indeed highly sensitive.
Once you have completed the test and come to the conclusion that your child is indeed, as you suspected, highly sensitive, what’s next? The same question applies to you as a parent, should you discover that you are also highly sensitive (which many parents do once they start down the highly sensitive road).
Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire (SPSQ)
I recently discovered a new questionnaire, the Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire, developed by Véronique De Gucht and Dion H.A. Woestenburg at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. This questionnaire goes beyond stating that a person is likely highly sensitive and delves into the different aspects of high sensitivity and the impact those elements have on a person’s life.
You can find the questionnaire here and can read all about the research angle here.
The premise of the questionnaire is: how sensitive are you to different stimuli?
In other words, the questionnaire gives you an insight into which particular sensory stimuli impacts you, both positively and negatively. And this is important, particularly when talking to our children about their highly sensitive traits, there is absolutely a positive side to HS traits too!
Once you complete the questionnaire you will see an overal score, a breakdown of the score, and a SPSQ profile in the form of a spider web, comparing your results to the average responses.
What I Learned from the SPSQ
My results were, unsurprisingly, high compared to the average. I am more sensitive to social-affective stimuli, subtle bodily sensations and environmental stimuli. Results can then be broken down into positive and negative. Negative HS traits is all about those traits that impact you in an adverse way: the discomfort you feel from stress, crowds and chaotic situations, for example. My Emotional and Physiological Reactivity score is high – which indicates the extent to which I need to withdraw when I face the kind of situations listed (with the exception of one specific form of crowds).
And then finally, the spider web:
Clearly, this gives me a concrete base to work from. I can see not only the kind of traits I have, but also the impact my traits have on my life. Through adapting and acquiring the right tools, I can learn to manage my negative HS traits and use my positive HS traits optimally.
And that, in a nutshell, is our aim when parenting a highly sensitive child.
This post was originally sent to subscribers to the HSK Newsletter in September 2024. If you want to be first to receive updates and news from HSK, sign up here.