Elaboration and validation of the Depression Scale for the Elderly

The objective of this study was to develop and validate the Depression Scale for the Elderly. An explanatory theoretical model was developed for depression, consisting of three categories: cognitive, affective, and somato-motor. The items elaborated thusly were submitted to semantic analysis and judges. The pilot instrument was applied to 340 subjects, 88% of whom were females, mostly with complete primary education (67.9%), and a mean age of 63.74 (SD = 6.87) years. The sample also responded to the Beck Depression Index (BDI). Validation of the scale was based on factor analyses (Principal Axis Factoring) and analysis of the items' internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Multiple regressions evaluated the predictive power of the factors in the depression scale for the elderly on the final BDI score. Scale validation demonstrated that the depression scale for the elderly is composed of two factors: cognitive-affective and somato-motor, which explain 53% of the BDI (convergent validity). One can thus state that the depression scale for the elderly consists of factors that assess different aspects of the depression construct (factor validity), which present internal consistency indices within the psychometric standards.