Performance and Psychometric Properties of Novel Brief Assessments for Depression in Children and Adolescents.

Objective: Current rating scales for depressive symptom severity in pediatric patients do not meet the needs of contemporary clinical practice and research. This study sought to evaluate relative performance and psychometric properties of the 5-item Brief Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (BCDRS-R5), as well as the clinician-rated and self-report versions of the 5-item Very Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (VQIDS-A5-C and VQIDS-A5-SR, respectively). Method: This study examined a sample of 165 outpatients aged 8 to 17 years with major depressive disorder who were treated openly with fluoxetine for 6 weeks from a prior National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study. We examined the internal consistency, scale dimensionality, relative performance in detecting remission and response, and sensitivity to change of each 5-item scale. Results: All 3 brief scales had good-to-excellent internal consistency. Cronbach coefficient α values were 0.687 to 0.795 at baseline and 0.766 to 0.844 at week 6. Principal component analysis suggested a 1-factor solution for each scale. The BCDRS-R5 demonstrated a greater degree of accuracy in identifying response and remission compared to the VQIDS-A5-C and VQIDS-A5-SR. The scales were sensitive to change in symptom severity over 6 weeks of acute treatment with fluoxetine. Conclusion: Three novel, brief scales assessing depressive symptom severity in pediatric patients showed similar performance and sensitivity to change in symptom severity over 6 weeks of acute treatment when compared with longer, standard scales. Clinical trial registration information: Sequential Treatment of Pediatric MDD to Increase Remission and Prevent Relapse; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00612313.