Depressive illness in teens and preteens and effectiveness of the RADS-2 as a first-stage assessment. Part 1: Descriptive paper.
OBJECTIVE
Measurement of the characteristics and severity of depression in adolescence is an emerging science. During patient assessment, or if using first-stage screening measures in practice, nurses must be confident that these instruments demonstrate high levels of accuracy in capturing the specific features of depressive symptoms expressed in diverse individuals.


METHODS
A review of the scientific literature of depressive illness and its assessment in teens and preteens is presented. The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale-Revised (RADS-2) measure is introduced and evaluated from a nursing practice standpoint.


RESULTS
The RADS-2 is easy to use and demonstrates good reliability, validity, and construct features, providing evidence for nurses that the measure can be used with confidence in assessment of depressive symptoms in adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
The RADS-2 is an effective first-stage assessment of depressive mood in teens and preteens.
Weber
Scott
S
Nursing Education Graduate Program, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. webersjm@pitt.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index