Self-Rated Depression Scales in Chinese Adolescents: a Reliability Analysis

This paper reviews several studies on depressive tendencies among adolescents in some regions of China (Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, rural Yueyang County in Hunan Province, inner-city Beijing, and suburban Beijing), and evaluates scientificity of research processes as well as the validity of several depression questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II-C), the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Patient Health Questionnaire 2-item Depression Screen (PHQ-2-C) of adolescents. It also examines the shortcomings of multiple depression questionnaires in assessing depression among teenagers in various regions, as well as the causes behind them, taking into consideration regional differences in economic and educational development. It was concluded that when used with adolescents across China, each of the depression scales produced good results, that the CES-D is more sensitive to gender differences in adolescent depression than the SDS and BDI-II-C.