The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale

The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) is a self-assessment, youth depression indicator. It is used throughout New Zealand and the world; however, it has never been fully tested and validated for a New Zealand population. The Youth Health Survey 2000 included all of the RADS survey items and provided a nation-wide representative sample of nearly 10000 students. The data from this survey provided an excellent opportunity to conduct the validation tests from the original Reynolds manual and make comparisons between the results of the Reynolds study and the Youth Health Survey. The results are tested for internal consistency and reliability and then ROC graphs are used to find cut off values for the use of RADS as a depressive illness indicator. Normative comparisons are made for each year/grade level and compared to the original validation work from America. The results conclude that the RADS tool is both valid and reliable for use with New Zealand adolescents. This book provides useful information for researchers, psychologists and psychiatrists in terms of the empirical testing and validation of a common depressive illness indicator.

Autorentext

Lyndon Walker, BCom, BSc(Hons), MSc(Hons), GDipHE. He is a lecturer of statistics and finance at Unitec New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.