Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale among undergraduates and clinical patients
Open accessAbstract
Background: The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CESD) was widely used for screening of depressive symptoms. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the factor structure and measurement invariance of the CESD across genders and groups in a sample of Chinese undergraduates and clinical patients. Methods: Participants included 3093 undergraduates from the Hunan province and 336 patients from psychological clinics. The structure of the CESD scale was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Multiple sets of CFAs were used to test measurement invariance across genders among undergraduates and clinical patients. Internal consistency reliability was also evaluated. Results: The five-factor model achieved satisfactory fit (in the undergraduate sample: WLSMVχ 2 = 1662.385, df = 160, CFI = 0.973, TLI = 0.968, RMSEA = 0.055; in the clinical patients: WLSMVχ 2 = 502.089, df = 160, CFI = 0.962, TLI = 0.955, RMSEA = 0.072). The measurement invariance of the five-factor model across genders was supported fully assuming different degrees of invariance. The CESD also showed acceptable internal consistency. Conclusion: Due to its sound structure and measurement invariance, the five-factor model of the CESD is best suited for testing in Chinese mainland college students and clinical patients.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The Chinese version of the CESD showed good reliability in prior studies.
“Its Chinese vision showed good reliability in prior studies (e.g., Niu et al., 2021).”
From Helicopter Parenting and Emotional Problems in Chinese Emerging Adults: Are there Cross-lagged Effects and the Mediations of Autonomy? (2023) · cites this paper as Niu et al., 2021
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys
Moussavi, S., Chatterji, S., Verdes, E., Tandon, A., Patel, V., & Ustun, B. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61415-9 · Cited by 4,070 · see citing works
Auerbach, R. P., Collaborators, W. W.-I., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., Ebert, D. D., Green, J. G., et al. (2018) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000362 · Cited by 2,522 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Undergraduates are at a high-risk of depression due to pressures of employment, interpersonal communication, social pressures, lack of emotional feedback, and homework [4, 5].”
BackgroundA systematic review of studies of depression prevalence in university students
Ibrahim, A. K., Kelly, S. J., Adams, C. E., & Glazebrook, C. (2013) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.11.015 · Cited by 1,988 · see citing works
Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance.
Meade, A. W., Johnson, E. C., & Braddy, P. W. (2008) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.568 · Cited by 1,668 · see citing works
Shafer, A. B. (2006) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20213 · Cited by 837 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 31
- [1]Heo M Murphy CF Fontaine KR Bruce ML Alexopoulos GS Population projection of US adults with lifetime experience of depressive disorder by age and sex from year 2005 to 2050 Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008 23 12 1266 1270 10.1002/gps.2061 18500691 PMC3207493 · DOI
- [2]Vos T Flaxman A Naghavi M Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2010 Lancet 2012 380 9859 2163 2196 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61729-2 23245607 PMC6350784 · DOI · Paper page
- [5]Liu Y Zhang N Bao GY Huang YB Ji BY Wu YL Liu CX Li GY Predictors of depressive symptoms in college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies J Affect Disord 2019 244 196 208 10.1016/j.jad.2018.10.084 30352363 · DOI · Paper page
- [7]Zhao SB Zhang J The association between depression, suicidal ideation and psychological strains in college students: a cross-National Study Cult Med Psychiatry 2018 42 4 914 928 10.1007/s11013-018-9591-x 29922973 · DOI
- [8]Radloff LS. The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;3(1):385–401.
- [9]Wang MC Armour C Wu Y Ren F Zhu XZ Yao SQ Factor structure of the CES-D and measurement invariance across gender in mainland Chinese adolescents J Clin Psychol 2013 69 9 966 979 10.1002/jclp.21978 23775279 · DOI
- [10]Li HCW Chung OKJ Ho KY Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for children: psychometric testing of the Chinese version J Adv Nurs 2010 66 2583 2591 20825514
- [11]Lee SW Stewart SM Byrne BM Wong JPS Ho SY Lam TH Factor structure of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in Hong Kong adolescents J Pers Assess 2008 90 2 175 184 10.1080/00223890701845385 18444112 · DOI
- [12]Verhoeven M Sawyer. and Spence, S. H. The factorial invariance of the CES-D during adolescence: are symptom profiles for depression stable across gender and time? J Adolesc 2013 36 1 181 190 10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.10.007 23206757 · DOI
- [13]Arbona C Burridge A Olvera N The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): measurement equivalence across gender groups in Hispanic college students J Affect Disord 2017 219 112 118 10.1016/j.jad.2017.05.024 28535449 · DOI
- [14]Chin WY Choi EPH Chan KTY Wong CKH The psychometric properties of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in Chinese primary care patients: factor structure, construct validity, reliability, sensitivity and responsiveness PLoS One 2015 10 8 e0135131 10.1371/journal.pone.0135131 26252739 PMC4529142 · DOI
- [15]Kim G DeCoster J Huang CH Chiriboga DA Race/ethnicity and the factor structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: a meta-analysis Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol 2011 17 4 381 396 10.1037/a0025434 21988578 · DOI
- [16]Rivera-Medina CL Caraballo JN Rodriguez-Cordero ER Bernal G Davila-Marrero E Factor structure of the CES-D and measurement invariance across gender for low-income Puerto Ricans in a probability sample J Consult Clin Psychol 2010 78 3 398 408 10.1037/a0019054 20515214 · DOI
- [17]Ying YW. Depressive symptomatology among Chinese-Americans as measured by the CES-D. J Clin Psychol. 1988;44(5):739–46. 3192712
- [18]Kim JH Park EY The factor structure of the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale in stroke patients Top Stroke Rehabil 2012 19 1 54 62 10.1310/tsr1901-54 22306629 · DOI
- [20]Zhang J Sun W Kong Y Wang C Reality and validity of the CES-D scale in two special adult samples from rural China Compr Psychiatry 2012 53 8 1243 1251 10.1016/j.comppsych.2012.03.015 22520090 PMC3404200 · DOI
- [21]Gao WJ Ping SQ Liu XQ Gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress among college students: a longitudinal study from China J Affect Disord 2019 263 292 300 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.121 31818792 · DOI · Paper page
- [22]Little TD Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: practical and theoretical issues Multivar Behav Res 1997 32 1 53 76 10.1207/s15327906mbr3201_3 26751106 · DOI
- [23]He J Zhong X Yao S Factor structure of the geriatric depression scale and measurement invariance across gender among Chinese elders J Affect Disord 2018 238 136 141 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.100 29879608 · DOI
- [24]Jiang LJ Wang Y Zhang YN Li R Wu HL Li CY Tan Q The reliability and validity of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for Chinese University students Front Psychiatry 2019 10 315 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00315 31178764 PMC6537885 · DOI
- [25]Flora DB Curran PJ An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data Psychol Methods 2004 9 4 466 491 10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466 15598100 PMC3153362 · DOI
- [26]Wu W Lu Y Tan F Yao S Steca P Abela JRZ Hankin BL Assessing measurement invariance of the children's depression inventory in Chinese and Italian primary school student samples Assessment 2012 19 4 506 516 10.1177/1073191111421286 21911438 · DOI
- [27]Kline RB Principles and practice of structural equation modeling 2010 3 New York Guilford Press
- [29]Cheung GW Rensvold RB Evaluating goodness-of-fifit indexes for testing measurement invariance Struct Equ Model 2002 9 2 233 255 10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5 · DOI · Paper page
- [32]Skriner LC Rutgers BCC Supplemental material for cross-ethnic measurement invariance of the SCARED and CES–D in a youth sample Psychol Assess 2014 26 1 332 337 10.1037/a0035092 24245992 · DOI
- [33]Moeller RW Seehuus M Loneliness as a mediator for college students' social skills and experiences of depression and anxiety J Adolesc 2019 73 1 13 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.03.006 30933717 PMC6534439 · DOI · Paper page
- [34]Gurtman MB Lee DL Sex differences in interpersonal problems: a circumplex analysis Psychol Assess 2009 21 4 515 527 10.1037/a0017085 19947786 · DOI
- [35]Feingold A Gender differences in personality: a Meta-analysis Psychol Bull 1994 116 329 456 10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.429 7809307 · DOI · Paper page
- [36]Hyde JS New directions in the study of gender similarities and differences Curr Dir Psychol Sci 2016 16 5 259 226 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00516.x · DOI
- [37]Lippa R Gender-related individual differences and psychological adjustment in terms of the big five and Circumplex model J Pers Soc Psychol 1995 69 6 1184 1202 10.1037/0022-3514.69.6.1184 · DOI
- [38]Dvorak RD Lamis DA Malone PS Alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and impulsivity as risk factors for suicide proneness among college students J Affect Disord 2013 149 1–3 326 334 10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.046 23474093 PMC3672262 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Gao, W., Hou, Y., Hao, S., & Yu, A. (2023) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-022-01702-5 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
“Its Chinese vision showed good reliability in prior studies (e.g., Niu et al., 2021).”
Method
- Authors
- Niu, L., He, J., Cheng, C., Yi, J., Wang, X., & Yao, S.
- Affiliations
- Central South University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Xiang
- Yao, Shuqiao
- Venue
- BMC Psychiatry
- Published
- 2021-09-23
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 463-463
- ISSN
- 1471-244X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8459481
- OpenAlex
- W3201060832
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 2.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81471384, No. 81471384)
- Central South University
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D, factor structure, measurement invariance, gender differences, Chinese undergraduates, university students, psychometric validation, Chinese version
- MeSH terms
- China, Depression, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Psychometrics, Students, Reproducibility of Results, Epidemiologic Studies
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review