VALIDATION OF URDU VERSION OF CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES FOR DEPRESSION SCALE FOR CHILDREN IN CONTEXT OF PAKISTAN

Objective: To translate and psychometrically validate the center for epidemiological studies for depression scale (CES-DC) for Pakistani children. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Various schools in Rawalpindi, from Feb to Mar 2021. Methodology: Present study comprised of translation, cross-language validation and investigation of psychometric properties of the scale into Urdu Language. Urdu translated version and strength and difficulty questionnaire were administered on 154 primary school children from various private schools situated in Rawalpindi district. Cronbach’s alpha reliability, item-total correlation and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for analysis. Results: Results revealed that this scale had good internal consistency and reliability (Urdu-version α=0.73; English-version α = 0.65) along with correlation coefficients over a period of 15 days (r=0.96). Cronbach’s alpha value of scales was found to be fairly high (r=0.78 and r=0.81). Item-total correlation of translated scale was also satisfactory (ranged from 0.04-0.58) and Pearson’s correlation of translated version with strength and difficulty questionnaire indicated good convergent validity (r= 0.54; p<0.01). Conclusion: Results supported the feasibility, reliability and validity of the Urdu version of this scale to screen depression among Urdu speaking pediatric Pakistani population.