Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D 10)

Below is a list of some of the ways you may have felt or behaved. Please indicate how often you have felt this way during the past week by checking the appropriate box for each question.

  Rarely or none of the time
(less than 1 day)
Some or a little of the time
(1-2 days)
Occasionally or a moderate amount of time
(3-4 days)
All of the time
(5-7 days)
1.   I was bothered by things that usually don't bother me

Items (using the same format as above):

  1. I was bothered by things that usually don't bother me
  2. I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing
  3. I felt depressed
  4. I felt that everything I did was an effort
  5. I felt hopeful about the future
  6. I felt fearful
  7. My sleep was restless
  8. I was happy
  9. I felt lonely
  10. I could not "get going"

Scoring

Item Weights Rarely or none of the time
(less than 1 day)
Some of a little of the time
(1-2 days)
Occasionally or a moderate amount of the time
(3-4 days)
All of the time
(5-7 days)
Items 5 & 8
3
2
1
0
All other items:
0
1
2
3

Score is the sum of the 10 item weights. If more than 2 items are missing, do not score the scale. A score of 10 or greater is considered depressed.


Characteristics

Tested on 605 subjects with chronic disease.

No. of
items
Observed
Range

Mean
Standard
Deviation
Internal Consistency
Reliability
Test-Retest
Reliability
10
0-30
12.9
6.13
.84
NA

Source of Psychometric Data

Stanford/Garfield Kaiser Chronic Disease Dissemination Study. Results reported in: Lorig KR, Sobel, DS, Ritter PL, Laurent, D, Hobbs, M. Effects of a self-management program for patients with chronic disease. Effective Clinical Practice, 4, 2001,pp. 256-262. Psychometrics not reported in this article.

Comments

This is the short version of the 20-item CES-D. We are no longer using the CES-D because we have found that the norms for this scale differ for English and Spanish speakers and we do not feel comfortable combining data from different ethnic and cultural groups.

References

Andresen EM, Malmgren JA, Carter WB, Patrick DL. Screening for depression in well older adults: evaluation of a short form of the CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 10, 1994, pp.77-84.

Radloff LS, The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 1977, pp.385-401.

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