Depression is highly prevalent, but often unidentified in pediatric primary care. Without treatment, early-onset depression often leads to psychosocial impairment and is associated with a high risk of recurrence, chronicity and comorbid mental illnesses. While depression screening is recommended for adults in the primary care setting, screening instruments for children and adolescents are still rare. Therefore, the study group developed two depression screeners in German language, specifically designed for this age group. In a pilot study, psychometric properties of these screeners are computed.

This is a cross-sectional study of a pediatric clinic sample of 100 children and adolescents aged 9-16 years. To assess screener performance, item analysis and realibility measures were calculated. Further, validity measures were computed, using a standardized clinical interview as gold standard criterion for depression diagnosis.

The pilot study is ongoing until January 2009. Items analysis results are presented as well as internal consistency. Validity measures are illustrated by ROC curve analyses.

Based of the results of the pilot study, the screening instruments will be revised. To confirm our preliminary findings, the screeners will be tested in a larger sample during the main study. If the depression screeners have proven to be reliable and valid, in the long run they can be implemented in pediatric primary care as a diagnostic aid.