Clinical Assessment Tools

Clinician Administered Assessments

The clinical interview is often useful because it elicits the longitudinal course of the disorder in addition to the symptoms [reference: Dobson, K.S., Scherrer, M.C., & Haubert, L.C. (in press). In J. Fisher and W. O'Donohue (Eds.), Practice guidelines for evidence based psychotherapy. New York: Kluwer Academic Publications.] Dobson, Scherrer, and Haubert (in press) recommend the following semi-structured clinical interview styles.

Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I)
First, M., Spitzer, R., Williams, J, & Gibbon, M. (2000)

Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS-IV)
A project of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.,
the DIS is also available in a computer version (CDIS). Visit the Diagnostic Interview Schedule Homepage for information about the DIS and CDIS, as well as DIS training and how to obtain the measure.

Self-Report Assessments

The VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of a Major Depressive Disorder in Adults
This guide may be useful in understanding the type and frequency of depressive symptoms experienced by a patient, with recommendations for monitoring treatment progress. This guideline provides general information about assessment considerations and several self-report measures:

• CES-D Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale - (5 items)
• Zung Depression Rating Scale (21 items)
• BDI Beck Depression Inventory (21 items)
• MOS Medical Outcomes Study - depression questions (4 items)
• Ham-D Hamilton Depression Scale (21 items)

Carroll Depression Scales-Revised (CDS-R)
Dobson, Scherrer, and Haubert (in press) [reference: Dobson, K.S., Scherrer, M.C., & Haubert, L.C. (in press). In J. Fisher and W. O'Donohue (Eds.), Practice guidelines for evidence-based psychotherapy. New York: Kluwer Academic Publications.] Recommends this scales simple yes/no format, reducing the complexity required by many other depression scales.