title: The Greek translation of the symptoms rating scale for depression and anxiety: preliminary results of the validation study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the current study was to assess the reliability, validity and the psychometric properties of the Greek translation of the Symptoms Rating Scale For Depression and Anxiety. The scale consists of 42 items and permits the calculation of the scores of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-21, the BDI 13, the Melancholia Subscale, the Asthenia Subscale, the Anxiety Subscale and the Mania Subscale
  
  
  METHODS
  29 depressed patients 30.48 +/- 9.83 years old, and 120 normal controls 27.45 +/- 10.85 years old entered the study. In 20 of them (8 patients and 12 controls) the instrument was re-applied 1-2 days later. Translation and Back Translation was made. Clinical Diagnosis was reached by consensus of two examiners with the use of the SCAN v.2.0 and the IPDE. CES-D and ZDRS were used for cross-validation purposes. The Statistical Analysis included ANOVA, the Spearman Correlation Coefficient, Principal Components Analysis and the calculation of Cronbach's alpha.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The optimal cut-off points were: BDI-21: 14/15, BDI-13: 7/8, Melancholia: 8/9, Asthenia: 9/10, Anxiety: 10/11. Chronbach's alpha ranged between 0.86 and 0.92 for individual scales. Only the Mania subscale had very low alpha (0.12). The test-retest reliability was excellent for all scales with Spearman's Rho between 0.79 and 0.91.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Greek translation of the SRSDA and the scales that consist it are both reliable and valid and are suitable for clinical and research use with satisfactory properties. Their properties are close to those reported in the international literature. However one should always have in mind the limitations inherent in the use of self-report scales.
authors.affiliation: 3rd Department of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. kfount@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: Konstantinos N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Fountoulakis
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iacovides
authors.forename: Soula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kleanthous
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samolis
authors.forename: Kyriakos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gougoulias
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: St Kaprinis
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bech
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014177:Translations