Assessing Latina/o Undergraduates’ Depressive Symptomatology

Abstract

The use of depression scales as screening tools at university and college centers is increasing and thus, the question of whether scales are culturally valid for different student groups is increasingly more relevant with increased severity of depression for students and changing student demographics. As such, this study examined the reliability and validity of three commonly used depression scales with 203 Latina/o undergraduates. The scales varied in item response, assessment, reliability, convergent and construct validity, and detection of sex and class standing differences for the study’s sample. The strengths and limitations of implementing the scales with Latina/o undergraduates are addressed for research and within practice settings.