High-end specificity of the children's depression inventory in a sample of anxiety-disordered youth

Using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the present study investigated the ability of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to correctly detect depression in a sample of treatment-seeking anxious youth (N = 44). The ADIS-C/P was used to determine diagnostic status of participants. Anxious children who met diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder scored higher on the CDI than anxious children who did not meet criteria for a depressive disorder, supporting the CDI as a continuous measure of depressive symptomatology. In contrast, with regard to detecting a depressive disorder, CDI cut scores did not achieve favorable values across diagnostic utility indices (including the cut score of 13 that has been recommended). These findings support the CDI as a continuous measure of depressive symptoms, but do not support the CDI as a sole assessment for a diagnosis of depression within a sample of anxiety-disordered youth.