CDI Maria Kovacs

Children's Depression Inventory
All about the CDI:

Name: Children's Depression Inventory
most widely used self-report scale for depression in youth
developed by Maria Kovacs, PHD
initially published in 1975 and revised in '92
Type of Measure:
Domain: behavioral/ social/ emotional
self report style based on the BDI
subdivided emotional and functional subscales
versions: self report, short form, parent
form, teacher form
Multicultural Considerations
CDI has a low reading level
invariance among genders in middle and late childhood
normed for special child populations
researched in several cultures/ ethnic backgrounds
translated into 23 languages
Test Construction
Norming Sample: based on 1266 respondents from U.S., Canada,
and Australia
Reliability: Good internal consistency (r= .86), test-retest reliability
(r=.74-.77), and predictive, convergent, and construct validity
Validity: Good discriminative, predictive, and
concurrent validity
Administration and Scoring Information
Ease and time of administration:
mental health workers, pastoral counselors, teachers, or doctors
with a graduate degree can administer the CDI
Paper and Pencil or software version available
15 minutes or less to complete the self-report
Scoring:
Scoring takes under 10 minutes
Score ranges from 0-54 for self report version
Cutoff score of 19 or 20 has been considered for
the clinical range
Scores above the 85th percentile or
t-score above 65 are considered significant
6 step scoring interpretation
Target Audience:
Strengths/ Limitations
Research Studies
References
The Cycle of Depression
school aged children and adolescents from 7-17 years old
can be used for screening measures at clinics or schools
Diagnostic Considerations
The CDI measures symptom severity- it is NOT a diagnostic tool
Measures symptoms associated with depressive disorders
and distinguishes between depressive disorders
V Codes
What does depression in childhood look like?
"Measurement Bias Across Gender on the CDI"
"Depressive symptoms as measured by the CDI in a population of
Northern Italian Children"
Gender differences regarding depression has been explored
Gender differences on assessment measures has not
Purpose of the study was to confirm the accuracy of prevalence
rates determined by the CDI and confirm the psychometric
properties of the instrument
n= 779
five factors or CDI were measured and were consistent between
genders
Andrews, L.Wasmer (2010). Quick Reference. In Encyclopedia of
Depression. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. Retrieved from
http://ebooks.abc-clio.com/reader.aspx?
isbn=9780313353673&id=GR5378_0349
Carle, A.C. Millsap, R.E. Cole, D.A. (2007). Measurement Bias Across
Gender on the Childrens Depression Inventory: Evidence for
Invariance from Two Latent Variable Models. Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 68 (281). Retrieved from
http://epm.sagepub.com.libproxy.usc.edu/content/68/2/281.full.pdf+
html
Childrens depression inventory. (2009). The international
encyclopedia of depression. Springer Publishing Company.
Bae, Y. (2012). Test Review: Childrens Depression Inventory 2 (CDI
2). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30 (304). Retrieved
from
http://jpa.sagepub.com.libproxy.usc.edu/content/30/3/304.full.pdf+h
tml
Frigerio, A., Pesenti, S., Molteni, M., Snider, J., & Battaglia, M. (2001).
Depressive symptoms as measured by the CDI in a population of
northern italian children. European Psychiatry, 16(1), 33-37.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0924-9338(00)00533-2
Kovacs, M. (2003). Childrens Depression Inventory: Technical
Manual Update.
New York: Multi-Health Systems Inc.

Weiss, Bahr; Weisz, John R.; Politano, Michael; Carey, Michael;
Nelson, W. Michael; Finch, A. J. (1992). Relations among self-reported
depressive symptoms in clinic-referred children versus adolescents.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101 (3).
Carle et. al (2007); Kovacs (1992)

Strengths:
good reliability and validity
items reflect range of symptoms involved with depression
measures different perspectives of depression through 5 factors
large norming sample
Limitations:
not normed for SES or gender
has been shown to generate
false positives
Carle et. al (2007); Kovacs (1992)
Carle et. al (2007)
The purpose of the study detected depression symptoms in young
children (8 years old)
n= 284
The CDI internal consistency was adequate (Cronbach's alpha: .80)
Found children of lower SES were at risk of depression.
Boys of low SES scored higher in depression than girls of low SES
CDI consistent across different cultures
Reliably employed in the assessment of young children.
Kovacs (1992)
Kovacs (1992)
Kovacs (1992)
Kovacs (1992)
Frigerio et. al (2001)
https://prezi.com/qd8pg2lca0vk/childrens-depression-inventory/

CDI Maria Kovacs

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CDI Maria Kovacs

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Children's Depression Inventory

All about the CDI:

New York: Multi-Health Systems Inc.

Carle et. al (2007); Kovacs (1992)

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