A new depression scale designed for use with adults with mental retardation.
A nine-item CPRS subscale gives BCBAs a fast, valid way to spot depression in adults with severe or profound ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team trimmed the long CPRS checklist down to nine questions.
They tested the short form with adults who have intellectual disability.
Some participants could not speak; caregivers answered for them.
What they found
The nine items cleanly split depressed from non-depressed adults.
Even adults with severe or profound ID scored reliably.
The scale kept its accuracy when caregivers spoke for the client.
How this fits with other research
Timberlake (1993) tried the Children’s Depression Inventory first.
That tool worked, but it was built for kids.
The new CPRS subscale updates the idea for grown-ups.
Maïano et al. (2011) later stretched the concept to teens.
They used a picture-based CES-D instead of the CPRS.
Together the papers form a timeline: kid tool → adult tool → teen tool.
Why it matters
You now have a nine-question screener that takes two minutes.
Use it during intake for any adult with ID, even non-speakers.
A quick score flags possible depression so you can refer for help.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A sample of 51 mentally retarded adults with DSM-III-R criteria for depressive disorders, and 41 without depressive disorders but a high rate of other psychiatric disorders were rated on 27 items from the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS). The newly developed CPRS depression subscale consists of nine items which can also be assessed in almost all of the people with severe or profound mental retardation in the sample. The scale is able to distinguish between depressive and non-depressive cases, and between subgroups of depression. The two factors derived from factor analysis were open to clear interpretation.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1996 · doi:n/a