BASE-Publications: Abstracts

Die deutsche Version der CES-D als Instrument der gerontologischen Forschung
[The German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale as an instrument in gerontological research]

Michaela Riediger, Michael Linden, & Hans-Ulrich Wilms (1998)

Zeitschrift fur Klinische Psychologie, Psychopathologie und Psychotherapie, 46, 344-364

The applicability of the German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in gerontological research was investigated. The German CES-D shows satisfactory psychometric properties for the use as research instrument. It has a high internal consistency. The German CES-D is applicable as screening instrument for detection of subjects with "Depressive Disorders" and "Major Depression." It is, however, concluded that the so far common practice of using a unitary cutting point in different age-by-sex groups is not warranted for many gerontological research questions. Goodness indices of several potential cutting points are reported for the total sample and several sub-samples. These results are based on data of a representative sample of the at least 70 year old West-Berlin population and can, therefore, be used as a guideline for choosing relevant cutting points in investigations of old subjects. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted testing the four-factor-structure repeatedly replicated in investigations of the English CES-D. The four-factor-solution fits the data in our sample satisfactorily well. This result indicates measurement equivalence of the English and German CES-D. It is concluded that both versions are applicable in cross-cultural comparisons of elderly persons. Although the current German CES-D exhibits a sufficient quality as research instrument, several items showed unsatisfactory item properties in our sample.