Dunn Erin C, Johnson Renee M, Green Jennifer G
Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health. 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. phone: 617-935-1290.
School Ment Health. 2012 Mar 1;4(1):34-45. doi: 10.1007/s12310-011-9066-5. Epub 2011 Oct 16.
Adolescent health researchers and practitioners are frequently interested in assessing depression as part of student screening and for school-wide prevention and intervention planning. However, this task is challenging given the lack of free, brief assessments of depressive symptoms in youth. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the Modified Depression Scale (MDS). Data came from a school-based survey of 9th-12th graders in Boston (N=1,657). We assessed internal consistency reliability and known-groups validity, in addition to the feasibility of establishing a dichotomous cut-point to classify adolescents as having high versus low depressive symptoms. We also evaluated the validity of the adapted MDS as a school-wide measure. At the student-level, the adapted MDS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. Students engaging in risk behaviors (e.g., substance use) or who were victimized (e.g., bullied) had significantly higher depressive symptom scores. Students who endorsed four or five MDS symptoms often or always had a heightened risk of suicidal ideation, substance use, and failing grades when compared to students who endorsed three or fewer symptoms often or always. At the school-level, higher mean levels of depressive symptoms in a school were associated with higher mean levels of suicidal ideation and failing grades. Results of this study suggest that the adapted MDS is a promising measurement tool that could be useful to school-based professionals and researchers to evaluate depressive symptoms in adolescents and ascertain the prevalence of depressive symptoms in schools.
青少年健康研究人员和从业者经常对评估抑郁症感兴趣，将其作为学生筛查的一部分以及全校预防和干预计划的依据。然而，鉴于缺乏针对青少年抑郁症状的免费、简短评估，这项任务具有挑战性。本研究评估了改良抑郁量表（MDS）改编版的心理测量特性。数据来自对波士顿9至12年级学生的一项基于学校的调查（N = 1657）。除了确定将青少年分类为抑郁症状高与低的二分切点的可行性之外，我们还评估了内部一致性信度和已知群体效度。我们还评估了改编后的MDS作为全校范围测量工具的效度。在学生层面，改编后的MDS表现出可接受的内部一致性。从事危险行为（如使用毒品）或遭受伤害（如被欺凌）的学生抑郁症状得分显著更高。与经常或总是认可三个或更少症状的学生相比，经常或总是认可四个或五个MDS症状的学生有更高的自杀意念、使用毒品和成绩不及格风险。在学校层面，学校中抑郁症状的平均水平较高与自杀意念和成绩不及格的平均水平较高相关。本研究结果表明，改编后的MDS是一种有前景的测量工具，可能对学校专业人员和研究人员评估青少年抑郁症状以及确定学校中抑郁症状的患病率有用。
