Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale: 8 Item (CESD-8)
Description: The frequency and severity with which symptoms of depression are experienced in the general population.
Number of Items: 8
| Item | Question Wording | TILDA Variable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I felt depressed | mh006 |
| 2 | I felt that everything I did was an effort | mh007 |
| 3 | My sleep was restless | mh011 |
| 4 | I was happy | mh012 |
| 5 | I felt lonely | mh014 |
| 6 | I enjoyed life | mh016 |
| 7 | I felt sad | mh018 |
| 8 | I could not get "going" | mh020 |
Scoring Method:
4-point Likert Scale
0 = Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)
1 = Some or a little of the time (1-2 days)
2 = Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days)
3 = All of the time (5-7 days)
Survey coding is 1-4 so all items should be reconfigured to 0-3 coding prior to scoring.
A cumulative score is generated with higher scores representing greater levels of depression (range 0-24).
Items 4 and 6 are negatively worded and reverse scored prior to calculation.
Scores ≥ 9 represent clinically significant depressive symptoms.
Citation:
Radloff, L.S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3): 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306 (Original Scale)
Briggs, R., Carey, D., O’Halloran, A.M., Kenny, R.A. and Kennelly, S.P. (2018). Validation of the 8-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in a cohort of community-dwelling older people: data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). European Geriatric Medicine, 9(5): 681–687. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-017-0016-0
Example TILDA Papers:
O’Halloran, A.M., Kenny, R.A. and King-Kallimanis, B.L. (2014). The latent factors of depression from the short forms of the CES-D are consistent, reliable and valid in community-living older adults. European Geriatric Medicine, 5(2): 97–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurger.2013.12.004
Orr, J., Tobin, K., Carey, D., Kenny, R. A., & McGarrigle, C. (2019). Religious Attendance, Religious Importance, and the Pathways to Depressive Symptoms in Men and Women Aged 50 and Over Living in Ireland. Research on Aging, 41(9), 891-911. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027519860270
Ward M, Briggs R, McGarrigle CA, De Looze C, O’Halloran AM, Kenny RA. (2023), The bi-directional association between loneliness and depression among older adults from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 38: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5856
Code
gen cesd = 0
foreach posq in mh006 mh007 mh011 mh014 mh018 mh020 {
replace cesd = cesd + (`posq' - 1)
replace cesd = . if `posq' == 98 | `posq' == 99 | `posq' == -1
}
foreach negq in mh012 mh016 {
replace cesd = cesd + (4 - `negq')
replace cesd = . if `negq' == 98 | `negq' == 99 | `negq' == -1
}
gen cesd_capi = cesd
label variable cesd_capi "CES-D (short form) from CAPI"
rename cesd_capi MHcesd_capi_sf
drop cesdposq <- c("mh006", "mh007", "mh011", "mh014", "mh018", "mh020")
negq <- c("mh012", "mh016")
df[ , c(posq, negq)] <- lapply(df[ , c(posq, negq)], function(x) {
x[x %in% c(98, 99, -1)] <- NA
x
})
df$MHcesd_capi_sf <-
rowSums(df[ , posq] - 1, na.rm = FALSE) +
rowSums(4 - df[ , negq], na.rm = FALSE)RECODE mh006 mh007 mh011 mh014 mh018 mh020 mh012 mh016
(98 = SYSMIS)
(99 = SYSMIS)
(-1 = SYSMIS).
COMPUTE MHcesd_capi_sf =
(mh006 - 1) +
(mh007 - 1) +
(mh011 - 1) +
(mh014 - 1) +
(mh018 - 1) +
(mh020 - 1) +
(4 - mh012) +
(4 - mh016).
VARIABLE LABELS MHcesd_capi_sf
"CES-D (short form) from CAPI".
EXECUTE.