ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Depression in adolescence is a serious major global health problem with increasing rates of prevalence. Measures of depression that are valid for young people are clearly needed in clinical contexts. METHODS: The study included 577 patients from child and adolescent psychiatry (n = 471) and primary care (n = 106) aged 12-22 years in Sweden (Mage=16.7 years; 76% female). The reliability and validity for Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale - Youth (MADRS-Y) were investigated. To confirm the latent structure, we used a single-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to test total score differences between diagnostic groups. Using Spearman's rho correlations, we examine whether single items in the MADRS-Y correlate with suicidal ideation measured by The Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-JR (SIQ-JR). RESULTS: The internal consistency using McDonald's coefficient omega was excellent. The CFA of the 12-item MADRS-Y supported a one factor structure. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was shown. There was a significant difference in MADRS-Y scores across diagnostic groups, with higher results for depressive disorders. A strong correlation with suicidal ideation was found for two items. CONCLUSIONS: The results support MADRS-Y as a brief, reliable, and valid self-report questionnaire of depressive symptoms for young patients in a clinical setting.
Subject(s)
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Psychometrics , Suicidal Ideation , Humans , Female , Adolescent , Male , Reproducibility of Results , Young Adult , Child , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/standards , Sweden/epidemiology , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Adult , Factor Analysis, StatisticalABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Because of all the serious consequences of major depressive disorder (MDD), it is important to screen for MDD in adolescents. The aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed self-report depression scale MADRS-Y for adolescents in a normative Swedish sample. METHODS: The study included 620 adolescents in the age range of 12-20 years old. The normative sample was randomly split into two equal parts, to perform principal component analysis (PCA) on sample one and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on sample two. We investigated the psychometrics. RESULTS: The result from the PCA suggested that all 12 potential items should be used, and the items loaded on the same construct of depression. The CFA supported the one-factor structure with good fit indices. Measurement invariance was confirmed, allowing interpretation regardless of gender or age differences. Reliability was good, α .89, for both samples separately. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients = .87 and .91). Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was shown. CONCLUSIONS: The results in the current study suggest that the MADRS-Y is a brief, reliable, and valid self-report questionnaire of depressive symptoms for adolescents in the general population.