Psychometric Properties of the Children's Depression Rating Scale–Revised in Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to present the reliability and validity of the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) in the adolescent age group. Method: Adolescents with symptoms of depression were assessed using the CDRS-R and global severity and functioning scales at screening, baseline, and after 12 weeks of fluoxetine treatment. Global improvement was also assessed at week 12 (or exit). Reliability and validity were analyzed using Classical Test Theory (item-total correlations and internal consistency) and correlations between the CDRS-R and other outcomes. Results: Adolescents (n ¼ 145) were evaluated at screening; 113 (77.9%) met criteria for major depressive disorder, 8 (5.5%) had subthreshold depressive symptoms, and 24 (16.6%) had minimal depressive symptoms. Ninety-four adolescents had a baseline visit after 1 week, and 88 were treated with fluoxetine. Internal consistency for the CDRS-R was good at all three visits (screening: 0.79; baseline: 0.74; exit: 0.92), and total score was highly correlated with global severity (r ¼ 0.87, 0.80, and 0.93; p < 0.01). Only exit CDRS-R score was significantly correlated with global functioning (Children's Global Assessment Scale; r ¼ À0.77; p < 0.01). Reductions on the CDRS-R total score were highly correlated with improvement scores at exit (Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement; r ¼ À0.83; p < 0.01).Conclusions: The results demonstrate good reliability and validity in adolescents with depression.

Depression and its measurement in verbal adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder

“…Parent participants completed a face-to-face assessment consisting of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R; Rutter, LeCouteur, & Lord, 2003), the second edition of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005) to assess proband adaptive functioning, the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale-Parent (SCAS-P; Nauta, et al, 2004), as well as the following depression measures: The Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS; Poznanski & Mokros, 1996), a semi-structured interview for use with children, young adolescents, or their parents that has been shown to have good internal consistency and convergent validity with established global functioning scales (Mayes, Bernstein, Haley, Kennard, & Emslie, 2010). …”

Changes in brain activation following psychotherapy for youth with mood dysregulation at familial risk for bipolar disorder

“…Thirteen patients were recruited from among those participating in a larger treatment study that was described in a previous publication (Miklowitz et al 2011). Criteria for inclusion were (1) age 9–17; (2) English-speaking; (3) at least one first-degree relative with BD I or BD II; (4) significant current mood symptoms, defined as a score >11 on the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) (Young et al 1978), OR a score >29 on the Children’s Depression Rating Scale Revised (CDRS-R) (Mayes et al 2010); (5) no previous manic episode according to DSM-IV criteria. Exclusion criteria (for both controls and patients) included developmental disorders, neurological conditions or major medical illness, substance use disorder, IQ less than 80, MRI contraindications (metal in the body), orthodontic braces, or current hospitalization.…”

Predicting placebo response in adolescents with major depressive disorder: The Adolescent Placebo Impact Composite Score (APICS)

“…Total score on the CDRS-R ranges from 17 to 113, with higher scores representing greater severity of depressive symptoms. The CDRS-R has become the most widely used rating scale for assessing severity of depressive symptoms for clinical research trials in children and adolescents with MDD, and it has established psychometric properties (validity and reliability) in both the child population (Poznanski and Mokros, 1996) and the adolescent population (Mayes et al, 2010).…”