Keywords-convergent validity; depression screening; single question; BDI-II; severity level I. INTRODUCTIONDepression is one of the most common mental illnesses globally in both medical and non-medical populations. The World Health Organization noted that in 17 countries 1 in 20 people reported having an episode of depression in the past year [1]. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 9.1% prevalence rate of current depression in the general population [2]. Reference [3] observed a lifetime prevalence of 16.6% for major depression with a lifetime morbid risk of 29.9% for persons 13 years of age and older. The prevalence of depression in medically ill persons has been reported to be significantly higher than healthy persons, with rates ranging from 20% to 40% [4]. As staggering as these rates may seem, in an examination of the existing literature, categorical prevalence rates of depression in patients with comorbid medical illnesses as high as 75% have been reported [5]. The importance of considering prevalence rates in medically ill persons lies in the finding that 47.6% of psychologists in the United States work in medical settings [6,7]. It is therefore essential that frontline healthcare professionals working in medical settings be able to quickly and effectively evaluate and screen for depressive symptomology.Depression is assessed through self-report questionnaires or a structured clinical interview (e.g., SCID-CV) [8]. With regard to psychometric options, the BDI-II [9] is one of the most commonly used [10,11]. The BDI-II measures a patient's severity level of depression: none/minimal, mild, moderate, or severe. An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the BDI-II has demonstrated that this instrument yields reliable, internally consistent, and valid assessments of depression in medical care settings [12].Due to the time-limited nature of assessment often observed in medical settings, efforts should be made to develop screening procedures that are valid, yet brief enough to be administered to medically ill persons. Previous studies have investigated the effectiveness of a one or two question format as a means of screening for depression in medical settings. A single depression question format entails comparing patient responses to a depression question (e.g., "Are you depressed?") to a clinical interview. In a two question format, the depression question is combined with a loss of interest question (e.g., "Have you experienced loss of interest in things or activities that you would normally enjoy?"). Patient responses are again typically compared to a diagnosis from a structured clinical interview.Results are presented in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivity refers to the true positive rate; the degree of agreement between patients who describe themselves as depressed and a finding of depression on the secondary measure (typically a clinical interview). Specificity is the true negative rate; the degree of agreement between those who identify them...

Clinical experience has shown that examinees performing the Grooved Pegboard Test frequently have difficulty maintaining the manualized right-to-left placement direction with their left hand. To date, no empirical study has examined this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether left-hand peg placement direction (right-to-left vs. left-to-right) influences performance on this standardized test of fine motor speed and dexterity. The participants were 66 male and female student volunteers aged 18 to 58 years old. None of the participants had a history of neurologic disease/trauma or conditions that would affect motor functioning of the right and left upper extremities. Data were analyzed using a two-way mixed-design analysis of covariance. Results revealed a significant main effect for gender, F(1, 62) = 5.638, p = .021. Of primary interest was the main effect for placement direction, which was not significant, F(1, 62) = 0.108, p = .744. No significant interaction was observed, F(1, 62) = 0.002, p = .964.

The Facial Recognition Test is a widely used psychometric instrument for assessing visuoperceptual functioning. Only two prior studies have examined the effects of race/ethnicity on this test. Given that the United States has become more culturally diverse since the creation of the test, it is important to re-visit the effects of this demographic variable on performance. Participants were 75 males and 75 females between the ages of 18 and 43 years (M = 21.91, SD = 5.33). Racial/ethnic categories utilized by the U.S. Census Bureau were equally represented. No gender differences were observed. The race/ethnicity main effect was significant. The gender x race/ethnicity interaction was not significant. The data revealed a clear racial/ethnic performance disparity on the Facial Recognition Test.

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