Inventário de Depressão Infantil (CDI): uma revisão de artigos científicos brasileiros

Despite the consensus among health professionals regarding the recognition of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence, their diagnosis still presents difficulties. The literature points to the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) as a widely used instrument to measure this construct. This article reviews the scientific articles about the CDI published in Brazilian journals from 2000 to 2010. It was found that most of the research studies were conducted after 2005, in school settings, with both boys and girls, and aimed to evaluate the association of depressive symptoms and psychosocial variables. The studies reported good reliability indices for the CDI, however, there were differences regarding its factorial structure. New studies are necessary to prove the validity of the CDI as a useful measure to evaluate depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Key words: review, childhood depression, CDI, evaluation.