Skip to main content
Log in

A rating scale for assessing dysphoria in youth

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A rating scale (RSD) for children and adolescents was developed consisting of 12 items from the Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression (Lefkowitz & Tesiny, 1980) converted to a Likert- type format for obtaining self- ratings or ratings by significant others of dysphoria. The measure was administered to 784 mothers whose children's modal age was 10 years. Longitudinal data were gathered for 124 of these mother- child pairs after an interval of 2 years and for 133 mother- child pairs after an interval of 4 years. At the second interval, 82 of the 133 children's fathers also contributed RSD data. Analyses of reliability and validity indicate that the RSD possesses adequate psychometric properties and may be used for purposes of research and screening, and, experimentally, for clinical assessment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angold, A., Weissman, M. M., John, K., Merinkangas, K. R., Prussoff, B. A., Wickramaseckera, P., Gammon, G. D., & Warner, V. (1987). Parent and child reports of depressive symptoms in children at low and high risk of depression.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 901–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asarnow, J. R., & Carlson, G. A. (1985). Depression Self-Rating Scale: Utility with child psychiatric inpatients.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 491–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., & Beck, R. W. (1972). Screening depressed patients in family practice: A rapid technique.Postgraduate Medicine, 52, 81–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birleson, P. (1981). The validity of depressive disorder in childhood and the development of a self-rating scale: A research report.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 73–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cantwell, D. P. (1983). Assessment of childhood depression: An overview. In D. P. Cantwell & G. A. Carlson (Eds.),Affective disorders in childhood and adolescence-An update (pp. 146–156). New York: Spectrum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eron, L. D., Walder, L. O., & Lefkowitz, M. M. (1971).Learning of aggression in children. Boston: Little, Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1970). The structure of human personality. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975).The manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faulstich, M. E., Carey, M. P., Ruggiero, L., Enyart, P., & Gresham, F. (1986). Assessment of depression in childhood and adolescence: An evaluation of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC).American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 1024–1027.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E. (1981). Assessment techniques for childhood depression.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 358–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E., (1987). Children's Depression Scale: Validation with child psychiatric inpatients.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 29–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E., Rancurello, M. D., & Unis, A. S. (1987). Childhood depression. In G. D. Burrows & J. S. Werry (Eds.),Advances in human psychopharmacology (Vol. 4; pp. 1–52). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1980–81). Rating scales to assess depression in school age children.Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 46, 305–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M., Betof, N. G., Celebre, F. E., Mansheim, P. A., Petty, L. D., & Raynak, J. T. (1977).Childhood depression: Myth or clinical syndrome? Unpublished manuscript, University of Pennsylvania.

  • Lang, M., & Tisher, M. (1978).Children's Depression Scale. Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, M. M. (1980). Childhood depression: A reply to Costello.Psychological Bulletin, 87, 191–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, M. M., & Burton, N. (1978). Childhood depression: A critique of the concept.Psychological Bulletin, 85, 716–726.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, M. M., & Tesiny, E. P. (1980). Assessment of childhood depression.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 43–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, M. M., & Tesiny, E. P. (1985). Depression in children: Prevalence and correlates.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 647–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkowitz, M. M., Tesiny, E. P., & Solodow, W. (1985, May).The Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression adapted to a rating scale format. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Los Angeles.

  • Quay, H. C. (1986). Classification. In H. C. Quay & J. S. Werry (Eds.),Psychopathological disorders of childhood (3rd ed., pp. 1–34). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quay, H. C., Routh, D. K. & Shapiro, S. K. (1987). Psychopathology of childhood: From description to validation.Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 491–532.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population.Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saylor, C. F., Finch, A. J., Baskin, C. H., Furey, W., & Kelly, M. M. (1984). Construct validity for measures of childhood depression: Application of muititrait-multimethod methodology.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 977–985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayetta, R. B., & Johnson, D. P. (1980). Basic data on depressive symptomatology. National Center for Health Statistics (DHEW Publication No. PHS 80-1666). Washington, DC.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solodow, W. (1983).A longitudinal study of depressive symptoms in children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Long Island University.

  • Tesiny, E. P., & Lefkowitz, M. M. (1982). Childhood depression: A 6-month follow-up study.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 778–780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tesiny, E. P., & Lefkowitz, M. M. (1983, August).The peernomination inventory of depression: 1975-present. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Anaheim, CA.

  • Tisher, M., & Lang, M. (1983). The Children's Depression Scale: Review and further developments. In D. P. Cantwell & G. A. Carlson (Eds.),Affective disorders in childhood and adolescence — An update (pp. 181–203). New York: Spectrum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weissman, M. M., Orvaschel, H, & Padian, N. (1980). Children's symptom and social functioning self-report scales: Comparison of mothers' and children's reports.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 168, 736–740.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lefkowitz, M.M., Tesiny, E.P. & Solodow, W. A rating scale for assessing dysphoria in youth. J Abnorm Child Psychol 17, 337–347 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917403

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917403

Keywords

Navigation