Validation of the Maria Kovacs Children’s Depression Inventory to Assess Depression among School Children in Afghanistan

Background & aim: Four decades of war in Afghanistan has led to an increased rate of depression among the population. Given the importance of depression in adolescents, it is essential to introduce an appropriate tool for the early detection of depression in adolescents. Therefore, this study was conducted to standardize the Maria Kovacs Questionnaire among schoolchildren in Herat, Afghanistan. Methods: In order to validate the Maria Kovacs children’s depression inventory for the reference group, 57385 adult girls and boys studying in secondary schools in the Herat were selected during 2016. The 500 high school students (grades 7, 8, and 9) were randomly selected and questionnaires were localized by the researcher. Moreover, the reliability of the test was evaluated by means of a mock-up test in split-half format, and Beck's depression inventor was used as gold standard for identifying depression in school children. Results: Using the split-half method, the two inventories of Maria Kovacs and Beck were reported to have the reliability of 0.789 and 0.526, respectively. Moreover, the comparison of Maria Kovacs with Beck inventory (as criterion test) indicated that when the score of non-depression in Kovacs inventory ranged 0-8, it had the sensitivity of 97.2%, specificity of 46.1%, positive, and negative predictive value of 85.7%. Conclusion: According to the obtained sensitivity of the investigated group, Maria Kovacs Depression Inventory has an acceptable level of reliability and validity to be implemented in the target community. So it could be recommended as an appropriate scale to assess depression among school childrenin Afghanistan.