La is one of the most common mental disorders and, despite this, its diagnosis can be a bit complex to make. For this reason, mental health specialists use available and standardized resources to carry out this work.
There are many tests to evaluate depression and you can even find several versions online. But it is important to keep in mind that the results of these instruments are by no means an infallible diagnosis. This requires the assessment of an expert in the area.
Some of the most used tests in clinical psychology to evaluate depression:
Hamilton Hetero-Applied Depression Scale (HRSD)
It is a clinical instrument created in 1960, which was designed to evaluate symptoms related to depression in patients, in addition to serving as a standard to investigate its evolution. It is currently one of the most used tests for the evaluation of this psychopathology due to its reliability and validity.
It consists of 21 items strategically postulated to evaluate depression. In subsequent revisions the number of items was reduced to 17, but you can also find 24 and even 6, all of which have been validated. Each response is scored and a final sum is made that indicates the severity of the depression symptoms presented by the patient to whom the scale is applied.
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According to the results obtained, it is considered that a score between 0 and 7 is equivalent to the absence of depression in the patient, while a score between 8 and 13 points indicates slight/minor depression. With 14 to 18 points it is moderate depression, while 19 to 12 would be severe depression and a score greater than 23 indicates very severe depression.
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
In 1961 Aaron T. Beck developed an inventory consisting of 21 questions with multiple response options, designed to evaluate the presence and severity of depression in patients, this test being one of the most important contributions of this psychiatrist researcher who is known as the father of Cognitive Therapy.
Currently it is one of the most used tests due to its reliability. It has been validated in several countries and has translations in several languages. Over time it went through various revisions and improvements until reaching the 1996 version that continues to be used today to evaluate depression.
Each of the items can be answered with a rating scale from 0 to 3 that will indicate the severity of the symptoms experienced by the patient over a period of at least two weeks. The final score varies between 0 and 63 points, which will indicate the degree of severity of the depression.
Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
The Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale is one of the most used instruments to evaluate depression by mental health professionals, and it is a hetero-applied scale that has proven to be very effective in evaluating symptoms and severity.
It has 10 items that must be presented by a specialist through an interview. Through them, the presence of emotional and physical symptoms that indicate depression and their severity in terms of their impact on the development of the patients’ daily lives are investigated.
There is a version that can be self-applied, and although it has proven to be quite effective, it is recommended that its application be by a clinical professional who is an expert in the area of mental health. Unlike the previous test, this one does not have specific score limits that determine a diagnosis.
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
It is a self-administered instrument that helps evaluate the presence of symptoms related to depression. It is a brief part of the evaluation of the depression module of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Procedure, also known as PRIME-MD.
It has 9 items that indicate symptoms, severity and temporality. It evaluates the presence of positive depressive symptoms if 1 or 2 are experienced in less than half of the days, while it talks about negative depressive symptoms when there are no such symptoms.
It indicates major depressive syndrome (MDS) in cases where there are more than 5 symptoms for more than half of the days and another depressive syndrome (OSD), when the symptoms are between 3 and 4 with a shorter duration. In both cases the presence of anhedonia is evaluated.
5-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5)
This instrument consists of 5 evaluative criteria on a self-applied scale that allows determining the presence of depression indicators in patients.
This test is a summarized form of the SH-36, in which one of its 8 dimensions is evaluated. It is applicable in adult and adolescent populations with reliable results and validations are currently being carried out in various populations around the world for its use.
This inventory has 6 response options that indicate the intensity with which the symptoms are experienced, ranging from never to all the time.
Important information to keep in mind
Depression is a mental pathology that can be serious and must be treated correctly because, otherwise, the repercussions can be very negative. It is important to keep in mind that the evaluation instruments represent only a guide for the specialist but by themselves they do not represent any type of diagnosis.
The evaluation and intervention of a qualified mental health person is essential to be able to address and indicate the correct treatment for depression. This goes far beyond the application of clinical instruments, it requires interviews and other evaluations.
If you or someone you know has symptoms related to depression, seek help from mental health specialists (psychologists and psychiatrists), who can help you not only with a diagnosis, but also with appropriate treatment and understanding of what is happening. happening.
Bibliographic references:
- Buela-Casal, G. and Sierra, JC (1997). Manual of psychological evaluation. Ed. XXI century. Madrid.
- Cohen, R.J. & Swerdlik, M.E. (2002). Psychological tests and evaluation. McGraw-Hill: Madrid.