Development of a Self-Report Measure of Depression-Proneness

Abstract

Two retrospective self-report measures of depression-proneness were constructed and their psychometric properties investigated. A sample of 75 female students, selected to provide a wide range of depression-proneness scores, completed the two depression-proneness self-reports along with a measure of current severity of depression. A second session (retest) was conducted 4 mo. later. Subjects were then rated for degree of depression-proneness by two or more close friends and family members. Test-retest and coefficient alpha estimates of reliability were sufficiently high to recommend both depression-proneness measures as research instruments. Both self-report measures correlated significantly; rs = .38 and .41 with friends' and families' ratings of depression-proneness, which provides evidence for the validity of the depression-proneness measures. Little or no evidence was found for the discriminant validity of these measures. The advantages of retrospective self-reports over alternative approaches for identifying depression-prone individuals are discussed.