The Psychometric Properties of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for Iranian Cancer Patients

Sharif Nia, Hamid; Rezapour, Maryam; Allen, Kelly A; Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed; Jafari, Azar; Torkmandi, Hojjat; Goudarzian, Amir Hossein

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.9.2803

The Psychometric Properties of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for Iranian Cancer Patients

Document Type : Methodological papers

Authors

¹ School of Nursing and Midwifery Amol, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

² Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Department of Psychiatry, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

³ The Melbourne Graduate School of Education, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

⁴ Taylor’s Business School, Taylor’s University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia.

⁵ Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

⁶ Operating Room Group, Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.

10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.9.2803

Abstract

Objectives: The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was specifically created to assess
depression in cancer patients. However, to date, the CES-D has not been validated in Farsi. Therefore, this study aimed to
assess the psychometric properties of the CES-D in Iranian cancer patients. Methods: During a three-month period
(October to December, 2015), a total of 380 cancer patients completed a Farsi version of the CES-D. The construct
validity of the scale was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha
and McDonald Omega. All of the statistical procedure were run by SPSS 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results:
The construct validity of the CES-D determined three factors (somatic affect, negative affect, and positive affect),
which explained 65.60% of the total variance. The internal consistency was greater than 0.70. Conclusion: Findings
revealed that the Farsi version of the CES-D has acceptable validity and reliability, which can be used to measure
depression in Iranian cancer patients.

Keywords