Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents

The purpose of the present study was to describe the development and assess the psychometric properties of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). The SMFQ is a brief, easy-to-administer, self-report measure of childhood and adolescent depression, designed for the rapid evaluation of core depressive symptomatology or for use in epidemiological studies. The SMFQ's content and criterion-related validity were examined in a sample of 173 8-16 year-olds, comprised of both psychiatric and unselected pédiatrie controls. Results revealed substantial correlations between the SMFQ, the Children's Depression Inventory (GDI) and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) depression scale. The SMFQ successfully discriminated the clinically-referred psychiatric subjects from the pédiatrie controls. Within the pédiatrie (general population) sample, the SMFQ discriminated DISC-diagnosed children with depressive disorder from non-depressed subjects. Exploratory factor analyses, along with a high internal consistency, suggested that the SMFQ was a unifactorial scale. In sum, the SMFQ appears to be a promising tool for both the swift assessment of core depressive symptomatology and as a screening measure for depression in child psychiatric epidemiological studies. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Duke Scholars

Author Adrian Christopher Angold Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...

Author Elizabeth Jane Costello Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...