Definition
The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale) is a 20-item self-report measure designed to assess depressive symptoms over the previous week (Radloff, 1977). The CES-D assesses multiple symptom clusters, including depressed affect, lack of hope, feelings of guilt and shame, and somatic symptoms (e.g., disrupted sleep or appetite) with an emphasis on negative affect (Radloff, 1977). Sample items include “During the past week, …I felt that I could not shake off the blues even with help from my family or friends,” and “…I felt that everything I did was an effort,” (Radloff, 1977). Four items are worded positively and reverse coded to (a) ensure the respondent is attending to each question and not answering carelessly and (b) measure the respondent’s positive affect (Radloff, 1977). Each item is rated on a frequency scale (0 = Rarely or None of the Time, 1 = Some or a Little of the Time, 2 = Occasionally or a Moderate Amount of Time, 3 = Most or All of the...
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Herge, W.M., Landoll, R.R., La Greca, A.M. (2013). Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_732
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