Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Factor structure and longitudinal invariance of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in adult women: application in a population-based sample of mothers of children with epilepsy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Archives of Women's Mental Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The population-based sample included 347 adult women who had children participating in the Health-related Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy Study. Longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the factor structure and test for measurement invariance. The original CES-D four-factor model (depressed affect, positive affect, somatic activity, and interpersonal relations) provided the best fit to the data compared to alternate models: [χ 2 = 362.95 (df = 164); Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 965; Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.960; Weighted Root Mean Square Residual (WRMR) = 0.966; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.059, 90 % confidence interval (CI), 0.051, 0.068] and was used for invariance testing. Results suggested full measurement invariance over time with the final model demonstrating adequate fit [χ 2 = 2303.92 (df = 1,776); CFI = 0.957; TLI = 0.952; WRMR = 1.149; RMSEA = 0.033, 90 % CI, 0.030, 0.038]. We conclude that the four-factor structure of the CES-D is supported for adult women and that the measurement of the scale is longitudinally invariant. Clinicians and researchers can be confident that longitudinal changes in CES-D scores reflect true changes in depressive symptomatology and are not an artifact of changes in the interpretation of items in the scale over time.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baumgartner H, Steenkamp JBEM (1998) Multi-group latent variable models varying numbers of items and factors with cross-national and longitudinal applications. Mark Lett 9:21–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beardslee WR, Versage EM, Gladstone TR (1998) Children of affectively ill parents: a review of the past 10 years. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 37:1134–1141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bollen KA (1989) Structural equations with latent variables. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown TA (2006) Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. The Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne BM (2012) Structural equation modeling with Mplus: basic concepts, applications, and programming. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne BM, Shavelson RJ, Muthen B (1989) Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: the issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychol Bull 105:456–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canada S (2006) Census of Canada. Statistics Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen FF (2007) Sensitivity of goodness of fit indices to lack of measurement invariance. Struct Equ Model 14:464–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen FF, Sousa KH, West SG (2005) Testing measurement invariance of second-order factor models. Struct Equ Model 12:471–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung GW, Rensvold RB (2002) Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Struct Equ Model 9:233–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen CI, Goh KH, Gustave M (2010) A prospective study of outcome and predictors of subclinical and clinical depression in an older biracial sample of psychiatric outpatients. J Affect Disord 121:204–211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Contrada RJ, Boulifard DA, Idler EL, Krause TJ, Labouvie EW (2006) Course of depressive symptoms in patients undergoing heart surgery: confirmatory analysis of the factor pattern and latent mean structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Psychosom Med 68:922–930

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dolgin MJ, Phipps S, Fairclough DL, Sahler OJ, Askins M, Noll RB, Butler RW, Varni JW, Katz ER (2007) Trajectories of adjustment in mothers of children with newly diagnosed cancer: a natural history investigation. J Pediatr Psychol 32:771–782

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards MC, Cheavens JS, Heiy JE, Cukrowicz KC (2010) A reexamination of the factor structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: is a one-factor model plausible? Psychol Assess 22:711–715

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferro MA, Boyle MH (2012) Longitudinal invariance of measurement and structure of global self-concept: a population-based study examining trajectories among adolescents with and without chronic illness. J Pediatr Psychol. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jss112

  • Ferro MA, Speechley KN (2009) Depressive symptoms among mothers of children with epilepsy: a review of prevalence, associated factors, and impact on children. Epilepsia 50:2344–2354

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferro MA, Speechley KN (2012) Examining clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms in mothers following a diagnosis of epilepsy in their children: a prospective analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47:1419–1428

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferro MA, Avison WR, Campbell MK, Speechley KN (2011a) The impact of maternal depressive symptoms on health-related quality of life in children with epilepsy: a prospective study of family environment as mediators and moderators. Epilepsia 52:316–325

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferro MA, Avison WR, Campbell MK, Speechley KN (2011b) Prevalence and trajectories of depressive symptoms in mothers of children with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Epilepsia 52:326–336

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie JF, Primavera J (eds) (2000) Diverse families, competent families: innovations in research and preventive intervention practice. Haworth Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman SH, Rouse MH, Connell AM, Broth MR, Hall CM, Heyward D (2011) Maternal depression and child psychopathology: a meta-analytic review. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14:1–27

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog C, Van Alstine J, Usala P, Hultsch DF, Dixon R (1990) Measurement properties of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in older populations. Psychol Assess 2:64–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim-Cohen J, Moffitt TE, Taylor A, Pawlby SJ, Caspi A (2005) Maternal depression and children’s antisocial behavior: nature and nurture effects. Arch Gen Psychiatry 62:173–181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knight RG, Williams S, McGee R, Olaman S (1997) Psychometric properties of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in a sample of women in middle life. Behav Res Ther 35:373–380

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez AD, Mathers CD, Ezzati M, Jamison DT, Murray CJL (eds) (2006) Global burden of disease and risk factors. The World Bank and Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum RC, Browne MW, Sugawara HM (1996) Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychol Methods 1:130–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millsap RE, Yun-Tein J (2004) Assessing factorial invariance in ordered-categorical measures. Multivar Behav Res 39:479–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morin AJ, Moullec G, Maiano C, Layet L, Just JL, Ninot G (2011) Psychometric properties of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in French clinical and nonclinical adults. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 59:327–340

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Motl RW, Dishman RK, Birnbaum AS, Lytle LA (2005) Longitudinal invariance of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale among girls and boys in middle school. Educ Psychol Meas 65:90–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén BO (1989) Latent variable modeling in heterogeneous populations. Psychometrika 54:557–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén LK, Muthén BO (2010) Mplus user’s guide, 6th edn. Muthén & Muthén, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Perreira KM, Deeb-Sossa N, Harris KM, Bollen K (2005) What are we measuring? An evaluation of the CES-D across race/ethnicity and immigrant generation. Soc Forces 83:1567–1602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne P, Nomura Y, Weissman MM (2006) Family discord, parental depression, and psychopathology in offspring: 20-year follow-up. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 45:452–460

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pitts SC, West SG, Tein J (1996) Longitudinal measurement models in evaluation research: examining stability and change. Eval Prog Plan 19:333–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff LS (1977) The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas 1:385–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafer AB (2006) Meta-analysis of the factor structures of four depression questionnaires: Beck, CES-D, Hamilton, and Zung. J Clin Psychol 62:123–146

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singh R (2009) Does my structural model represent the real phenomenon? A review of the appropriate use of structural equation modeling (SEM) model fit indices. Mark Rev 9:199–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinmetz H, Schmidt P, Tina-Booh A, Wieczorek S, Schwartz SH (2009) Testing measurement invariance using multiple group CFA: differences between educational groups in human values measurement. Qual Quant 43:599–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tisak J, Meredith W (1990) Longitudinal factor analysis. In: von Eye A (ed) Statistical methods in longitudinal research, volume 1: principles and structuring change. Academic, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Lieshout RJ, Cleverley K, Jenkins JM, Georgiades K (2011) Assessing the measurement invariance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale across immigrant and non-immigrant women in the postpartum period. Arch Womens Ment Health 14:413–423

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberg RJ, Lance CE (2000) A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organ Res Methods 3:4–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams CD, Taylor TR, Makambi K, Harrell J, Palmer JR, Rosenberg L, Adams-Campbell LL (2007) CES-D four-factor structure is confirmed, but not invariant, in a large cohort of African American women. Psychiatry Res 150:173–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yu CY (2002) Evaluating cutoff criteria of model fit indices for latent variable models with binary and continuous outcomes. University of California, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Dr. Ferro is supported by a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The HERQULES project was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-64311).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    Mark A. Ferro

  2. Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

    Mark A. Ferro

  3. Department of Paediatrics, Western University, Commissioners Road East, Room E6-103, London, ON, N6A 5W9, Canada

    Kathy N. Speechley

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Canada

    Kathy N. Speechley

  5. Children’s Health Research Institute, Western University, London, Canada

    Kathy N. Speechley

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Chedoke Site, Central Building, Room 310, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Mark A. Ferro

Authors
  1. Mark A. Ferro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathy N. Speechley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark A. Ferro.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ferro, M.A., Speechley, K.N. Factor structure and longitudinal invariance of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in adult women: application in a population-based sample of mothers of children with epilepsy. Arch Womens Ment Health 16, 159–166 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0331-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0331-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation