Measurement Suitability of the Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression Scale among Older Urban Black Men

Abstract

This study investigated the measurement suitability of the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale (CED-S) when it was administered to older urban black men. This study used two samples of older black men in the Harlem Men’s Health Study (clinic, N = 404; community, N = 319). Three factors emerged in both the clinic and the community samples instead of four factors originally found in Radloff’s study. Depressive and somatic factors merged as one factor instead of as separate distinct factors to explain about 31% of the variance in the clinic sample and 37% of the variance in the community sample. Interpersonal distress measured differently in the two Harlem samples. The “crying” item (depressive affect item) loaded as interpersonal distress in both the clinic and the community samples. These results showed that the four-factor model of CES-D may not be applicable to older urban black men; therefore, caution should be exercised when interpreting CES-D results on populations of older black men.