PROPERTIES OF THE INVENTORY TO DIAGNOSE DEPRESSION IN AMERICAN-INDIAN ADOLESCENTS

The Inventory to Diagnose Depression (IDD) was administered to 177 American Indian adolescents attending a tribally administered boarding school. The psychometric properties in this population were studied and compared to those obtained when the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to a similar population. Analyses were performed on the scale items individually as well as on the continuous summary score and the dichotomous diagnosis. The internal consistency was very good (0.94 to 0.96). There were relatively few gender effects at the item level and none with respect to the diagnosis. IDD prevalence estimates of depression were much closer to the expected rates suggested by epidemiological studies than those generated by other self-report measures like the CES-D. These findings recommend the IDD for additional investigation in terms of its use with adolescent populations. © 1990, The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. All rights reserved.