The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: factor validity and reliability in a French sample of adolescents with Intellectual Disability.

The team shortened the adult CES-D depression form to 14 questions.

They added smiley-face Likert pictures so teens with mild or moderate ID could point to answers.

127 French adolescents, filled it out twice, two weeks apart.

The short form kept the same four-factor mood structure as the adult version.

Internal consistency was 0.82 and test-retest was 0.79—both above the 0.70 rule of thumb.

Boys, girls, younger, and older teens all answered in the same way, so scores can be compared across groups.

Sisson et al. (1993) warned that self- and caregiver reports often disagree in this population. Christophe’s study agrees, but shows the CES-D-ID self-report is stable on its own, so you can trust teen answers if the form is picture-based.

Wilson et al. (2023) later validated two wellbeing scales using the same picture-Likert idea. Their strong results back up Christophe’s choice of format and extend it from depression to quality-of-life questions.

Matson et al. (2004) found teacher scales more reliable than parent scales for ADHD. Christophe did not test teacher versions, so their finding reminds us to check if school staff data line up with the teen’s own CES-D-ID score.

You now have a 5-minute, picture-aided depression screen that teens with mild-moderate ID can complete themselves. No reading skill is needed, and the score is ready to compare to community norms. Use it during intake, annual reviews, or anytime you see withdrawal, sleep change, or loss of interest in preferred tasks.