The Children's Depression Scale. A Study of Its Validity

Abstract

The validity of the Children's Depression Scale and of its parent-report version were examined on a sample of normal and clinically referred adolescents. The CDS and CDS-A discriminated adequately between clinical and non-clinical Ss, as well as between depressed and non-depressed. Only the CDS discriminated between depressed and 'sad', i.e. parental report did not discriminate between these two groups. A high correlation was found between the CDS and the Children's Depression Inventory. Internal consistency of the scale was found to be adequate. However, no support was found for the subscale structure of the CDS as proposed by its authors.

Validation of the Children's Depression Scale and the Children's Depression Inventory in a Prepubertal Sample

“…The findings of the present investigation are consistent with a number of earlier studies (Tonkin & Hudson, 1981;Bath & Middleton, 1985;Rotundo & Hensley, 1985) in indicating the need for revision of the current CDS norms. As noted earlier, application of the current guidelines for interpretation of CDS scores classified many nondepressed children as depressed.…”

“…But there are indications that the age of the child may influence agreement patterns. Parents of adolescents have been found to underestimate consistently their child's depression (Moretti et al, 1985;Rotundo & Hensley, 1985). The present findings suggest that a similar phenomenon does not operate with prepubertal children and their parents.…”

Social Behavior and Skills in Children

“…Test-retest reliability has been tested and was found to be 0.74 (Tisher, Lang-Takac, & Lang, 1992). Additionally, the CDS has been found to be moderately correlated to other measures of depression, such as the CDS and CDI (r = 0.48-0.84; Kazdin, 1987;Knight, Hensley, & Waters, 1988;Rotundo & Hensley, 1985). The correlation between parent and child ratings is very poor (r = 0.04; Kazdin, 1987).…”

Childhood Depression

“…Ivens & Rehm, 1988;Kazdin etal, 1983b;Reynolds, Anderson & Bartell, 1985;Rotundo & Hensley, 1985). Several studies have shown that alternative measures of childhood depression correlate with each other (e.g.…”