Background

While empirical testing of many of the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health (ChYMH) assessment scales have been found to be reliable and valid across both child and adult samples, other scales have yet to be psychometrically evaluated within child populations.

Objective

The current study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Depressive Severity Index (DSI) embedded in the ChYMH instrument in a child sample.

Method

ChYMH data from 6093 children (aged 4–18) across mental health agencies in Ontario, Canada, were obtained.

Results

The scale showed good inter-item reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.86 and high inter-item correlations. The scale also demonstrated good convergent validity when tested against DSM-IV mood disorders diagnosis, Child Behaviour Checklist Internalizing scores, and Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Third Edition-Depression scores. Furthermore, children’s DSI scores significantly predicted their self-injury attempts and suicide intent using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, showing good criterion validity of the scale.

Conclusions

Overall, the results were in support of the reliability, convergent validity, and criterion validity of the DSI in detecting depression symptoms in the children and youth population.

中文翻译：

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使用interRAI儿童和青少年心理健康（ChYMH）评估工具对儿童和青少年的抑郁严重程度指数（DSI）进行心理测量

背景

虽然已经发现许多interRAI的儿童和青少年心理健康（ChYMH）评估量表在儿童和成人样本中都是可靠和有效的，但尚未对儿童量表进行心理计量评估。

目的

当前的研究评估了嵌入在儿童样本中的ChYMH仪器中的抑郁严重程度指数（DSI）的心理计量学特性。

方法

获得了来自加拿大安大略省精神卫生机构的6093名儿童（4至18岁）的ChYMH数据。

结果

该量表显示出良好的项目间可靠性，克朗巴赫（Cronbach）α为0.86，并且项目间相关性很高。在针对DSM-IV情绪障碍诊断，儿童行为清单内化得分以及儿童行为评估系统（第三版-抑郁）得分进行测试时，该量表还显示出良好的收敛效度。此外，儿童的DSI分数通过接受者操作特征（ROC）分析显着预测了他们的自伤尝试和自杀意图，显示了该量表的良好标准有效性。

结论

总体而言，结果支持DSI在儿童和青年人群中检测抑郁症状的可靠性，收敛性和标准有效性。