PREDICTION OF MAJOR DEPRESSION AND DYSTHYMIA FROM CES-D SCORES AMONG ETHNIC-MINORITY ADOLESCENTS

Objective: The Native Hawaiian Mental Health Research Development Prog ram is an epidemiological longitudinal study of adolescents residing i n Hawaii. This article examines the utility of the Center for Epidemio logic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) for predicting DSM-III-R diagno ses of major depression (MD) and dysthymic disorder (DD) and investiga tes whether prediction differs by gender and ethnicity. Method: Diagno stic Interview Schedule for Children interviews were conducted with 55 6 adolescents randomly selected from among more than 7,000 students wh o had completed the CES-D. Results: Six-month prevalence rates were as follows: MD = 8.5%, DD = 4.7%, either (MDDD) = 9.9%. Prevalence rates were significantly higher among females, but after CES-D scores were accounted for, gender no longer predicted depression in most analyses. When a cutoff score of 16 was used, classification accuracy was lower for Native Hawaiians than non-Hawaiians. However, after group differe nces in gender and grade level were accounted for, the predictive vali dity of the CES-D did not differ by ethnicity. CES-D factor 1 scores i dentified MD, DD, and MDDD about as well as the total score or all thr ee factors together. Conclusions: These results support the validity o f the CES-D for screening for depression among adolescents of Native H awaiian and other minority backgrounds.