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With the rising rates of depression and suicidality among university students, accurate measures of depression have become an essential public health matter. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is one of the measures often used to estimate and compare group depression prevalence rates. In this study we examined the factor structure, measurement invariance (country and gender), and reliability of the PHQ-9 in a sample of university students (N = 1064; Mage = 22.67 yrs., SD = 5.17; 61% = Female) from three African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Ghana). Four alternative factor structures of the PHQ-9 (i.e., one-factor and three correlated two-factor models) were tested with confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported the two-factor model (somatic and non-somatic factors), and the measure was invariant across gender and the three African countries. The findings suggest that the PHQ-9 may be suitable for estimating and comparing depression prevalence across groups of African university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression in university students is known to commonly co-occur with other mental disorders, especially anxiety. It is, however, not known how this comorbidity affects the psychopathology of depression in university students. Compared to commonly used methods, the clinical network approach provides a better framework for understanding comorbidity. Accordingly, regularized partial correlation network models were used in this study to (1) examine the severity structure of individual depressive symptoms by the level of comorbid anxiety, and (2) explore the gender differences among these symptoms in university students (N = 919; M age = 21 years., SD = 2.99; 72% = Female). Anhedonia, hopelessness, worthlessness, self-blame, and loneliness were the most central symptoms of depression in this study. The Network Comparison Test revealed no statistically significant global structure and strength of the depressive symptom network by comorbid anxiety level and gender. Implications of the results and network framework with regard to developing alternative treatment options, and the optimization of clinical care and assessment of depression are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition across race (Blacks and Whites) was examined in a sample of university students, from two universities from diverse geographical areas of South Africa (N = 870). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (i.e., means and covariance structures) was used to test the factorial invariance of the hierarchical four-factor structure, composed of three first-order factors (i.e., Negative Attitude, Performance Difficulty, and Somatic Complaints) and one second-order general factor (Depression) found with South African students. Evidence of measurement invariance was established at the level of configural, metric, and scalar invariance. However, there were some evidence of differential additive response style across race—with two non-invariant intercepts (Item 5 and 14) being identified. Results also revealed significant latent mean differences favoring Black students on the Performance Difficulty and Somatic Complaints factors but not on the Negative Attitude factor. Findings suggest that the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition provides an assessment of the severity of depressive symptoms that is equivalent across race in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the measurement invariance of scores from the BDI-II as well as the differences in latent mean scores by gender. Participants were 919 South African university students (females = 72%). They completed the BDI-II, which is a measure of Negative Attitude (NA), Performance Difficulty (PD), Somatic Complaints (S) and Depression (D). The data were analysed utilising multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA). Evidence of factorial invariance was established at the level of configural, metric and scalar invariance, across gender groups. Females scored significantly higher latent means on measures of NA and S compared to males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]