The RADS-2 is a brief, 30-item self-report measure that includes subscales that evaluate the current level of an adolescent's depressive symptomatology along four basic dimensions of depression:
- Dysphoric Mood
- Anhedonia/Negative Affect
- Negative Self-Evaluation
- Somatic Complaints.
Interpretation of these four subscales is based on both the nature of the depression domain and the item content of the subscale.
In addition to the four subscale scores, the RADS-2 yields a Depression Total score that represents the overall severity of depressive symptomatology. An empirically derived clinical cutoff score helps to identify adolescents who may be at risk for a depressive disorder or a related disorder. Data demonstrate the ability of this cutoff score to discriminate between adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder and an age- and gender-matched control group. The six RADS-2 critical items are those that have been identified as being most predictive of a depressive disorder diagnosis.
The RADS-2 Includes the Following New Features:
- Restandardized with a new school-based sample of 3,300 adolescents that was stratified to reflect the 2000 U.S. Census data for gender and ethnicity.
- Expanded age range includes individuals ages 11-20 years.
- Four factorially derived subscales reflect four basic domains of adolescent depression.
- Updated normative tables provide standard (T) scores in addition to percentile ranks for the Depression Total scale and four subscales.
- New Professional Manual provides a comprehensive literature review.
- Case studies illustrate expanded interpretation of subscale and Depression Total scale scores.
- Carbonless, hand-scorable Test Booklet facilitates scoring and interpretation.
Reliability and Validity
Comprehensive data are presented to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the RADS-2. Reliability data (internal consistency, test-retest, and SEMs) are presented for the Depression Total scale and the four subscales. Validity of the RADS-2 was examined from a number of perspectives: content validity, criterion-related validity, construct validity (convergent, discriminant, and factorial), and clinical validity. Reliability and validity studies included a school-based sample of over 9,000 adolescents and a clinical sample of 297 adolescents with DSM-III-R™ or DSM-IV™ diagnoses who were evaluated in both school and clinical settings. Extensive documentation of reliability and validity evidence for the RADS collected by the author and other researchers over a 20-year period is also presented.