COMPUTERIZED DEPRESSION SCREENING AND AWARENESS

The DEPRESSION Awareness, Recognition and Treatment (D/ART) program un der the sponsorship of the National Institutes of Health has made cons istent efforts to help educate many communities around the nation abou t depression. One important aspect of this effort includes offering fr ee screening for depression to the general public. Since new technolog y often promotes curiosity and interest, a computerized depression scr eening and awareness program was created to use at fairs and other loc al events. Individuals who participated completed a computerized versi on of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depressed Mood Scale (CES -D) and then received a one page printout that described the common sy mptoms of depression, a score indicative of their level of depressed m ood, a brief explanation of the score, and a telephone number where ad ditional information could be obtained. This paper details the constru ction of the computerized version of the CES-D including an evaluation of psychometric properties and consumer satisfaction with the program .