title: Reliability and validity of two self-rating scales in the assessment of childhood depression.
abstract: A comparison was made of the reliability and validity of two self-rating scales, the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS), in the diagnosis of depression in 93 children (aged 8-16 years) attending a university child psychiatry department. The two scales were of comparable merit but had only moderate discrimination between depressed and non-depressed children, with each scale having a misclassification rate of 25%. Better agreement was obtained in more verbally intelligent children, irrespective of age. Girls scored higher on the instruments than boys. No significant relationship was found between teacher assessment of classroom behaviour and the two self-rating depression instruments.
authors.affiliation: Fleming Nuffield Unit, Newcastle upon Tyne.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fundudis
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Berney
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kolvin
authors.forename: O O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Famuyiwa
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhate
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tyrer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007360:Intelligence; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010553:Personality Development; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012931:Social Environment