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23 - Assessment of Depressive Disorders and Suicidality

from Part III - Assessment and Diagnosis of Specific Mental Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2019

By
Ronald R. Holden  and
G. Cynthia Fekken
Edited by
Martin Sellbom  and
Julie A. Suhr
Martin Sellbom
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Julie A. Suhr
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Summary

This chapter examines screening for depressive disorders and suicidality in clinical and in research contexts using self-report measures. The chapter provides an overview of various definitions of the respective depression and suicidality constructs and addresses assessment issues that have particular relevance to their measurement, including willingness to disclose symptoms; generalizability across cultures; practicality; and psychometric properties. These widely used instruments were reviewed: The Beck Depression Inventory – II (BDI-II), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R), the Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ – 9), the Profile of Mood States 2 (POMS 2), the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS), the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire – Revised (SBQ-R), and the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASQ). Summaries of the comparative features of these depression and suicidality scales are provided in tables.

Keywords

depressive disorderssuicidalityconstruct definitioncultural applicabilitypracticalityreliabilityvalidity
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis , pp. 317 - 329
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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