Meta-analysis of the factor structures of four depression questionnaires: Beck, CES-D, Hamilton, and Zung

Four separate metaanalyses of factor analyses were conducted for the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and the Zung Self‐Rating Depression Scale (SDS). The total number of participants (N) and studies (k) included in each of the metaanalyses were the following: BDI (N = 13,643, k = 33), CES‐D (N = 22,340, k = 28), HRSD (N = 2,606, k = 17), and SDS (N = 12,621, k = 13). Metaanalysis results suggest that the specific depression symptom factors within each test appear to be relatively robust and well established and match fairly closely previously hypothesized factor structures. A general Depression Severity factor and a small Somatic Symptoms factor are found in all four tests and two tests had a small Positive Affect factor. There were fewer common specific depression symptom factors across tests than expected. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.