Psychometric properties of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in a sample of women in middle life

The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was completed by 675 women taking part in a longitudinal investigation of health-related issues. The data were submitted to confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 7 and a 4-factor model was found to fit the data moderately well. A second-order depression factor was also identified. The results provide support for the construct validity of the total and subscale scores from this measure. The scale was found to have good reliability. Evidence was found that scores on the subscale measuring somatic features of depression may be inflated in women who have experienced a chronic health problem in the past 12 months.