Network and Exploratory Factorial Analysis of the Depression Clinical Evaluation Test

María Guillot-Valdés (), Alejandro Guillén-Riquelme, Juan Carlos Sierra and Gualberto Buela-Casal
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María Guillot-Valdés: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Alejandro Guillén-Riquelme: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Juan Carlos Sierra: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Gualberto Buela-Casal: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-26

Abstract: Depression is a highly prevalent disorder with a wide range of symptomatology. Existing instruments for its assessment have only a few items for each factor. The Depression Clinical Evaluation Test (DCET) has been created to cover all depression symptoms at different times (month, year, and always) with several items for each facet. The content validity of this instrument has been judged by experts and, in this paper, we analyse its factorial structure and make a network analysis of it. The test (196 items) was administered to 602 adults without psychological disorders ( M age = 24.7, SD = 8.38, 72% women) both online and on paper. A network was estimated for each time point, using the absolute minimum selection and shrinkage operator. From the factor analysis, 12 factors were established for month, 11 for year, and 10 for always, leaving 94 items. The network analysis showed that the facets of depressive mood, anhedonia, and thoughts of Death, are central to all the estimated networks. The DCET is proposed as a valid and reliable multifactorial instrument to detect the variability of depressive symptoms in adults, guaranteeing its diagnostic usefulness.

Keywords: depression; assessment; factor analysis; network analysis; psychometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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