Depressive symptoms as measured by the CDI in a population of northern Italian children

The aim of this study was to evaluate some children's Depression Inventory (CDI) psychometric properties and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in an unselected Italian sample of two hundred and eighty-four children aged 8 years. The CDI internal consistency was adequate (Cronbach's alpha:.80). The mean and standard deviation of CDI and the percentage of children at risk of depression (10.6%) in this sample are consistent with the figures reported by other studies carried out in northern Europe and North America. There were differences in gender and socioeconomic level in that boys scored higher than girls, and in the lower socioeconomic level there were more children at risk of depression. Ten items best discriminated children at risk for depression with 94% of correct classification. Most of these items consisted of observable signs. It is suggested that the CDI has noteworthy consistency across samples of relatively different cultures, that it can reliably be employed in the assessment of young children, and that observable signs outnumber internalizing symptoms of depression among children at risk (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.