[1] Although initially designed for use in general population surveys, CES-D now serves as a screening instrument in primary care clinics and in research.
[3] The CES-DC was first developed to measure the incidence and prevalence of depression among children and adolescents in large-scale epidemiological research.
[3] Several research studies have found the CES-DC to be a reliable and valid measure of depressive symptoms in children.
Response choices are assigned point values, which are summed together to determine a total measure score.
A study evaluating the CES-DC found that the scores do not necessarily match up to a DSM diagnosis, and while it is a good psychometric tool for adolescents, reliability and validity is poor when applied to children.