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Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale

CES-D
psychologyhealth sciencesPublic domain

A 20-item self-report scale measuring frequency of depressive symptoms in the past week, designed for epidemiological research in the general population.

Items
20
Response format
4-point frequency scale (0-3)
Version
1.0
Subscales
4

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Depressive symptoms were assessed with the CES-D (Radloff, 1977), a 20-item public-domain scale of past-week symptom frequency with good internal consistency (α ≈ .85); a total of 16 is the conventional screening cutoff.

Reliability & validation

Validation population
General population (Radloff, 1977)
Test–retest
0.54
Cronbach's α
0.85

Subscales

Depressed affectPositive affectSomatic/retarded activityInterpersonal

Response anchors

Rarely or none of the time (<1 day) · Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) · Occasionally or a moderate amount (3-4 days) · Most or all of the time (5-7 days)

Known limitations

A screening tool, not diagnostic. The cutoff of 16 has high sensitivity but modest specificity, and somatic items may over-identify symptoms in older or medically ill respondents.

Original citation

Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385-401.

https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

Questions researchers ask

What does the CES-D measure?

A 20-item self-report scale measuring frequency of depressive symptoms in the past week, designed for epidemiological research in the general population.

How many items does the CES-D have?

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) has 20 items across 4 subscales: Depressed affect, Positive affect, Somatic/retarded activity, Interpersonal.

Is the CES-D free to use?

The CES-D is in the public domain — free to use, reproduce and adapt without seeking permission. Cite the original source.

Is the CES-D reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.85, test–retest reliability of 0.54. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the CES-D, and how do I cite it?

Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385-401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

Reference only

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Library entry verified July 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.