THE CHILDRENS DEPRESSION INVENTORY - A COMPARISON OF GENERALIZABILITYAND CLASSICAL TEST THEORY ANALYSES

Issues surrounding accurate assessment of depression in children have received much attention. However, the stability of scores from depress ion measures has generally been estimated using only classical test sc ore theory, rather than the more powerful generalizability theory. Thi s study investigated the dependability of scores from the Children's D epression Inventory using both generalizability and classical test sco re analyses. Results suggest that the sources of error variance intera ct to decrease the dependability of CDI scores. Several sample measure ment protocols were also investigated. Results indicate that depressio n in children might be better assessed using planned, multiple testing sessions.