What Are We Measuring? An Evaluation of the CES-D Across Race/Ethnicity and Immigrant Generation*

Abstract

The sociological study of the mental health of racial-ethnic minorities depends on the measurement quality of the instruments used to evaluate mental health. A commonly used instrument in research on mental health disparities, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), has not been thoroughly validated for use in the multiethnic and foreign-born populations currently living in the U.S. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this analysis provides the first multiethnic evaluation and psychometric analysis of the CES-D by acculturation level among youth ages 12–20. Correcting for the measurement problems contained in the CES-D improves the ability to detect differences in depression across ethnocultural groups, and to identify relationships between depression and other outcomes.