The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale)

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D scale) is often utilized to measure depressive symptomology (Radloff, 1977). It is a self-assessment that is completed by the individual. The CES-D contains 20-items rated on a 4-point scale (0 = Rarely or None of the Time to 3 = Most or All of the Time). The phrase “Within the past week did you…” prefaces the questions in order to emphasize recent depressive mood. Scores are summed and can range from 0 to 60. Traditionally, individuals with scores over 16 are identified as “depressed” (Weissman, et al., 1977), though due to high false positive rates, a score of 27 is considered a more useful cut-off (Zich, et al., 1990). The full scale can be accessed at: http://www.chcr.brown.edu/pcoc/cesdscale.pdf. Items 4, 8, 12, and 16 are reversed to avoid “yay-saying” or “nay saying” (Radloff, 1977). Several studies have validated four subscales across a variety of subgroups (i.e., depressive affect, well-being, somatic, and interpersonal) (Gliem & Gliem, 2003).