Assessment of depressiveness in population. Psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the CESD-R.

OBJECTIVES: Psychometric evaluation of reliability and usefulness of the Polish version of the CESD-R - a revised version of the CES-D - screening test for depression.

METHODS: In an online survey the CESD-R and the Beck Depression Inventory were applied to 260 participants (men and women). Reliability was assessed with Cronbach's method and split-half (odd-even) method. Same as in the original English publication, factor analysis was performed and three factors were distinguished. Additionally, the CESD-R results were compared with the Beck Depression Inventory results.

RESULTS: Analysis of the CESD-R resulted in high values of reliability, for Cronbach's alpha coefficient the result was 0.95, for split-half (odd-even) method based on Spearman-Brown formula . = 0.95. Factor analysis distinguished 3 principal factors such as cognitive-affective factors, physical factors, and self-destructive factors.

CONCLUSIONS: Polish version of the CESD-R appears to have reliability values (over 0.7) high enough to be applicable to assess depression in population-based samples. Usefulness of the CESD-R in an individual diagnosis needs further research. However, general analysis of the scale enables to expect the usefulness in at least introductory diagnosis in clinical practice.