Predicting onset of depression: The Vulnerability to Depression Questionnaire

Objectives. The development of a self-report questionnaire capable of asses sing cognitive and interpersonal vulnerability factors for clinical depress ion is described. The Vulnerability to Depression Questionnaire (VDQ) was d eveloped to provide a brief, economical alternative to the Self-Evaluation and Social Support interview (SESS; O'Connor & Brown, 1984), assessing nega tive evaluation of self, negative interaction with partner or child and lac k of a support figure. Design. The VDQ was tested in a prospective study of community-based women who were contacted on three occasions over the course of approximately 1 ye ar, to: (i) compare the VDQ's capacity to categorize vulnerability compared with the SESS interview, and (ii) to test the VDQ's prediction of onset of clinical depression during the follow-up. Method. Selected nondepressed respondents completed the VDQ and were inter- viewed to determine their vulnerability using the SESS. They were reintervi ewed on two further occasions during the follow-up period, and the VDQ was also re-administered at the time of first follow-up. Onset of clinical depr ession during the follow-up was assessed by interview at each contact. Results. Comparison of VDQ and SESS inter-view classification of participan ts' vulnerability at first contact indicated that the questionnaire had goo d sensitivity and specificity. Test-retest scores for the VDQ indicated sat isfactory levels of reliability. VDQ scores also predicted onset of clinica l depression in the follow-up period. Conclusions. Results suggest that the VDQ is an economical and effective me ans of screening large populations for the purposes of risk assessment, to aid future research into clinical depression and to facilitate the implemen tation of intervention strategies.