Development and validation of a depression scale for Asian adolescents.
Items covering both core and culture-specific facets of depression were generated based on literature review and clinical experience. They were modified following focus group discussions with depressed adolescents and adolescents in the community. The newly constructed Asian Adolescent Depression Scale (AADS) was administered to a clinical and a community sample of adolescents together with other rating scales. The AADS comprised 4 factors (negative self-evaluation, negative affect, cognitive inefficiency and lack of motivation) and demonstrated sound psychometric properties. Negative socially oriented self-evaluation and cognitive inefficiency were important in Singaporean adolescents' conceptualization of depression and are likely to be Asian culture-specific dimensions.
Woo
Bernardine S C
BS
Institute of Mental Health and Woodbridge Hospital, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore, Singapore. bernardine_woo@imh.com.sg
Chang
W C
WC
Fung
Daniel S S
DS
Koh
Jessie B K
JB
Leong
Joyce S F
JS
Kee
Carolyn H Y
CH
Seah
Cheryl K F
CK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D016487:Parenting; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires