ABSTRACT
Clinical depression is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that has been increasingly diagnosed among children and adolescents. Yet despite this recognition within the mental health profession, it is often pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) that initially identify depressive symptoms due to their knowledge of behavioral health and the frequency with which they see their patients. At present, there are a number of instruments available to PCPs to aid in the difficult process of identifying those children and adolescents who either have a diagnosable depressive disorder or may be at elevated risk of developing one in the future. The present chapter discusses the current state of screening for depression in primary care settings and details the six most commonly used and well-validated instruments for depression screening: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC), the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS), and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS).
