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Performance of the CES‐D and its Short Forms in Screening Suicidality and Hopelessness in the Community
Author(s) -
Cheung Yin Bun,
Liu Ka Yuet,
Yip Paul S.F.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.2007.37.1.79
Subject(s) - psychology , short forms , scale (ratio) , depression (economics) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , cartography , geography , economics , macroeconomics
A measurement scale should be short and quick to complete if it is to be practically useful. Drawing on data from a community‐based survey of 2,178 people in Hong Kong, we compared five short forms (5‐ to 10‐item) and the original version (20‐item) of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES‐D; Radloff, 1977) in predicting suicidal attempts and suicidal thoughts. Short forms with as few as nine items performed in ways very similar to the full version; a version with only five items had a detectable difference from the full version. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values in differentiating people with and without suicidal thought or attempt change almost linearly with the cut‐offs.