The Calgary Depression Rating Scale for schizophrenia in a healthy control group: Psychometric properties and reference values

Abstract Background Assessment of depression in schizophrenia is of great importance as depressive signs and symptoms and suicidality are highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenic disorders. The Calgary Depression Rating Scale (CDSS) is the standard assessment instrument for that purpose due to its proven reliability and validity. However, so far no reference values derived from an adequate healthy sample have been published. Methods The present study analyzed CDSS item scores and summary scores in 154 healthy subjects (49% female, mean age 32.8 ± 11.7 years) selected from studies as controls for schizophrenic patients. Results The total CDSS score was 2.6 ± 2.7 (range 0–12), about 1/…