SHORT FORM AVAILABLE!
Provides school and mental health professionals an evaluation of the severity of children’s depressive symptoms.

William M. Reynolds, Ph. D.

• Age Range: 7-13 years
• Time: 10-15 minutes-Full Form; 2-3 minutes-Short Form

The RCDS-2 has an expanded age range, is now appropriate for children Grades 2 through 6, and presents updated normative data. It maps the symptoms of depressive disorders outlined in the DSM-IV. All scoring and administration information is presented in the brightly-colored Test Booklet. A Short Form (11 items) is ideal for use with groups of students, as part of school- or class-wide screenings.

Critical items are clearly marked on the Scoring Sheet, alerting clinicians to individuals who may need immediate attention. To elicit current symptom status, children are asked to answer questions about how they have been feeling during the past two weeks. All items are worded in the present tense, and are presented in a 4- or 5-point rating scale format, making them easy for children to answer.

Scoring is easy, with updated, carbonless forms for quick hand scoring to provide a Total Score. No scoring key is needed. A clinical cutoff score determines whether a child should be referred for further assistance.

Normative metrics have been updated, and the Manual now includes T scores and percentile ranges for the total standardization sample, by gender, by grade, and by gender for each grade. The revised Manual provides extensive background information on the diagnosis and measurement of depression, and provides insight into the research involved in updating this instrument.

A new standardization sample of students, drawn from 11 states, is stratified closely to match U.S. Census data for gender and ethnic background. The new sample also included children in Grade 2.

The RCDS-2 Kit includes the Manual, and 25 each of the Full- and Short-Form Test Booklets.