Depression is a disabling psychological disorder that is widespread:

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2008) reported it as the third leading cause of burden of disease nationwide.

It is especially alarming to see increasing cases of this depressive disorder being diagnosed in children and adolescents. Depressed children and adolescents are at risk of committing suicide, becoming high school dropouts, and using illegal drugs. This paper examines one of several instruments that is used to screen for depression in children and adolescents. The name of the instrument that I chose is the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC); Weissman, Orvaschel, & Padia, 1980). This instrument was derived from The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977).

The authors Barry, Murphy, and O’Donovan did a study on adolescent males in a school setting. They wanted to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group coaching intervention in reducing depressive symptoms. The CES-CD was used to measure depressive symptoms prior to and at the end of the final session. They rephrased items to make them more appropriate for adolescents

Depression is a disabling psychological disorder that is widespread throughout today’s society. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2008) reported it as the third leading cause of burden of disease nationwide. Research further suggests an upward increase in cases involving depressive disorder being diagnosed in children and adolescents. Depressed children and adolescents are at risk of committing suicide, becoming high school dropouts, and using illegal drugs. Depression screening is of upmost importance. There are several instruments used to screen for depression in children and adolescents. This paper examines the Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) instrument (Weissman, Orvaschel, & Padian, 1980).

The CES-DC was derived from The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977). The CES-D is a self-report scale that measures symptoms of depression. It was designed to be used in epidemiologic studies of depression in the general population. Therefore, it is not to be used to give a clinical diagnosis like other depression scales. The twenty-item questionnaire addresses current depression symptoms and how you may have felt during the past week. It also capitalizes on depressed mood. A rise in depression among children and adolescents caused a need for an instrument designed for children. Ovaschel modified items from the CES-D for that purpose.

Fendrich, Warner, and Weissman did a study to assess the validity of the CES-CD. Their study evaluated its internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and concurrent validity. It also made suggestions for cutoff points. It used a longitudinal sample of 220 children, adolescents, and young adults. All participants in this sample had a low to high risk for major depression because of major depression or lack of major depression in one parent or both parents. The predictive validity of the CES-DC was based on diagnoses evaluated during the initial interview (wave 1) and follow-ups interviews with children and their parents 2 years after the initial interview.

According to Fendrich, Warner, and Weissman “Reliability is a necessary prerequisite for validity.” Chronbach’s alpha coefficient of internal consistency gives a measurement of reliability. The overall alpha coefficient of 0.89 was provided in the results that showed excellent internal reliability. Furthermore, the alpha coefficient was consistent with children with or without depressed parents and between boys and girls. Children from ages six through eleven showed an alpha coefficient of 0.78 that indicated less internal consistency reliability. Elevated scores on the CES-DC are similar to current DSM-III diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Thus, the concurrent validity of the measure is maintained.

The study showed reliability and validity validated using the CES-DC to measure of depressive symptoms in young adults, adolescents, and children. It indicates strongest validity in measuring depression in children and girls aged twelve through eighteen. It indicates limited reliability and validity in children six through eleven. This study also shows that the CES-DC measures current childhood psychopathology and current depressive disorder. This study was limited in that some groups were unrepresented or underrepresented.

The authors Barry, Murphy, and O’Donovan did a study on adolescent males in a school setting. They wanted to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group coaching intervention in reducing depressive symptoms. The CES-CD was used to measure depressive symptoms prior to and at the end of the final session. They rephrased items to make them more appropriate for adolescents. The Cronbach’s alpha results of this study were .78 at T1 and .73 at T2.

Another longitudinal study was done on the relationship between negative cognitions and negative affect. The participants were from three public, middle schools and five public, elementary schools. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .81 to .87 in this study. Surface-level negative thoughts are usually indicators of a much deeper, depressive thought-pattern (Lagrange, Cole, Jacquez, Ciesla, Dallaire, Pineda, Truss, Weitlauf, Tilghman-Osborne, & Felton, 2011).