Two Shorter Forms of the CES-D Depression Symptoms Index

Abstract

Brief measurement devices can alleviate respondent burden and lower refusal rates in surveys. This article reports on a field test of two shorter forms of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) symptoms index in a multisite survey of persons 65 and older. Factor analyses demonstrate that the briefer forms tap the same symptom dimensions as does the original CES-D, and reliability statistics indicate that they sacrifice little precision. Simple transformations are presented to show how scores from the briefer forms can be compared to those of the original.