ABSTRACT
The assessment of depression is fraught with difficulty because of the uncertain, and at times, arbitrary, boundaries among its clinical, subclinical, and nonpathological forms. Compared with unstructured clinical interviews, self-report inventories may be more reliable indicators of the presence and severity of depressive symptoms. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is one of the most commonly used measures of depressive symptoms in medically ill samples. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) was constructed from verbatim reports of depressed patients. Statements most representative of the depressive symptoms were included in the 20-item scale. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is a self-administered 20-item questionnaire that contains statements, as do the BDI and SDS, corresponding to characteristic symptoms of depression experienced over the week prior to completing the scale. The CES-D has been most commonly used to screen for depressive symptoms in the general population.
