Depressive symptoms following natural disaster in Korea: psychometric properties of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale

BACKGROUND Depressive symptoms have been recognized as one of the most frequent complaints among natural disaster survivors. One of the most frequently used self-report measures of depressive symptoms is the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). To our knowledge, no study has yet examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the CES-D in a sample of natural disaster survivors. Thus, the present study investigated the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a Korean language version of the CES-D (KCES-D) for natural disaster survivors. METHODS We utilized two archived datasets collected independently for two different periods in 2008 in the same region of Korea (n = 192 for sample 1; n = 148 for sample 2). Participants were survivors of torrential rains in the mid-eastern region of the Korean peninsula. For analysis, Samples 1 and 2 were merged (N = 340). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the one-factor model, the four-factor model, and the bi-factor models, as well as the second-order factor model. Composite reliability was computed to examine the internal consistency of the KCES-D total and subscale scores. Finally, Pearson's r was computed to examine the relationship between the KCES-D and the trauma-related measures. RESULTS The four-factor model provided the best fit to the data among the alternatives. The KCES-D showed adequate internal consistency, except for the 'interpersonal difficulties' subscale. Also regarding concurrent validity, weak to moderate positive correlations were observed between the KCES-D and the trauma-related measures. CONCLUSIONS The results support the four-factor model and indicate that the KCES-D has adequate psychometric properties for natural disaster survivors. If these findings are further confirmed, the KCES-D can be used as a useful, rapid, and inexpensive screening tool for assessing depressive symptoms in natural disaster survivors.