Internet administration of the Edinburgh Depression Scale.
BACKGROUND
Internet-based screening for depression is becoming increasingly important. The aim of this study is to validate the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) for internet administration.


METHODS
In 407 participants (64% women; 36% men) with subthreshold depression (mean age=55 years; S.D.=4.9) positive predictive values for a syndromal CIDI diagnosis of clinical depression were calculated and compared to those from paper and pencil validation studies. At one-year follow-up, internal consistency and convergent validity of the internet-based EDS were determined in 177 participants by Cronbach's alpha and correlations with the internet-administered BDI and SCL-90 subscales depression and anxiety.


RESULTS
Positive predictive values ranged between 29% and 33% at cut-off scores of 12 to 14. Cronbach's alpha for the internet-administered EDS was 0.87. The EDS correlated significantly with the internet-administered BDI (r=.75; p<.001) and two internet-administered subscales of the SCL-90: depression (r=.77; p<.001) and anxiety (r=.72; p<.001). A major limitation is that the study was conducted without a control group of healthy subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
The psychometric properties of the internet-administered EDS are comparable to those of the paper and pencil EDS.
Spek
Viola
V
Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands. v.r.m.spek@uvt.nl
Nyklícek
Ivan
I
Cuijpers
Pim
P
Pop
Victor
V
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires