Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-SF)The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) short form is a shorter version of the Geriatric Depression Scale that measures depression in the elderly. It is a closed-ended questionnaire (yes/no) that demands few cognitive resources or time, and can be administered to individuals with cognitive deficits. It has shown to be successful in distinguishing depressed from non-depressed individuals. Items are highly correlated with each other (r = .84, p < .001), and validity has been well established using a sample of healthy older adults without dementia. The test consists of two factors: a) Life Satisfaction and b) General Depressive Affect, that are both stable across healthy and cognitively-impaired populations.
Source:
Brown, Patrick J., Woods, Carol M., & Storandt, Martha. (2007). Model stability of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale across cognitive impairment and severe depression. Psychology and Aging, Vol 22(2), 372-379. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.22.2.372 Yesavage, J. A., Brink, T. L., Rose, T. L., Lum, O., Huang, V., Adey, M., & Leirer, O. (1983). Geriatric Depression Scale [Database record]. |