The aim of the scale is to provide an important tool that enables the physician to evaluate the information obtained from the clinical interview with the child/adolescent and the parents. The CSA-R Form provides general information about depressive symptoms and severity of depression in the clinical population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Child Depression Scale-R Form, which was translated and adapted into Turkish, in adolescents in the Turkish population.
The Depression Scale for Children is a self-assessment scale that can be administered to children aged 6-17 years. The scale is completed by reading it to the child or by the child reading it. The 27-item scale has three different options for each item. The child is asked to choose the most appropriate sentence for the last two weeks. For example; 1. I feel sad occasionally. 2. I often feel sad. 3. I always feel sad.
Each item receives 0, 1 or 2 points depending on the severity of the symptom. The maximum score is 54. The higher the score, the more severe the depression. A validity and reliability study was conducted in Turkey by Öy.* and the pathology cut-off point was found to be 19 points. The cut-off point is recommended as 19.
* Öy B: Depression scale for children: Validity and reliability study. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry 1991;2:132-136.
The view that it is necessary to obtain information from many sources to diagnose depression in children has lost its importance in recent years and the child himself/herself has started to be accepted as the main source of information as in adults. In addition, scales can also be used for evaluation purposes.