Quick depression screener written from the child’s point of view, accessing mood states that tend to be stable and persistent over time.
David J. Berndt, Ph.D. and Charles F. Kaiser, Ph.D.

• Age Range: 8-17 years
• Time: 15-20 minutes

This unique self-report inventory, with items written by children, assesses depression in 8 to 17 year-olds. A downward extension of the highly regarded Multiscore Depression Inventory, the MDI-C lets children indicate how they feel, providing personal view of their emotional world.

It is the first measure of childhood depression with items created by children. During test development, children reviewed MDI-C items, and items were revised, reworded, or added based on their suggestions. As a result, MDI-C items have excellent face validity. Written at a second-grade reading level, items are brief, easy to understand, and meaningful to children.

Completed in just 15 to 20 minutes, the MDI-C includes true-false items on eight scales:

1. Anxiety
2. Self-Esteem
3. Social Introversion
4. Instrumental Helplessness
5. Sad Mood
6. Pessimism
7. Low Energy
8. Defiance

The MDI-C is ideal for both routine screening and clinical assessment.

The inventory provides raw scores, percentiles, and normalized T-scores for each scale, along with a Total Score. An Infrequency Index tells you whether the child has responded in a careless or erratic way. One item on the inventory functions as a Suicide Risk Indicator. Norms, separated by age and sex, are based on a national sample of more than 1400 children and adolescents.

The MDI-C can be used to assess a wide range of children struggling with depression. The inventory is ideal for both routine screening and clinical assessment, making it helpful for treatment planning and monitoring progress over time. The MDI-C taps mood states that tend to be stable and persistent over time and is comparatively insensitive to transient fluctuations in affect. Therefore, it can reliably assess real change in overall emotional well-being and in specific feelings, such as anxiety.

The MDI-C Kit includes the Manual and 25 each of the AutoScore Test Forms and Profile Forms.