Psychometric Examination of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale with Older American Indians: The Native Elder Care Study

Measuring mental health accurately is an important endeavor for screening purposes. Depression scales, such as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, have been well-established among different populations. Yet, little work has been done to examine the reliability and validity of the CES-D among older American Indians and Alaska Natives. The purpose of our study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and concurrent validity of the full 20-item and abbreviated 12-item CES-D scale with a sample of older American Indians. Our findings demonstrate excellent internal reliability and concurrent validity of the full and abbreviated CES-D scales in our study sample.