[Markers of depressive mood in puberty using the Kovacs Children's Depression Inventory]

This study is based on the German version "KDI" of the "CDI" according to Maria Kovacs used in investigations on random selection of normal school population between the 7-th and 9-th grades (n = 130). The pupils ages ranged between 13 and 15 years. A second group was also used, made up of children of approximately the same age (n = 145) from a clinic. Among this second group, 58 suffered from clinical depression. The comparison provided a clear separation between the depressive patients and the normal random participants - and the CDI/KDI total value = 20 was decided to be the optimal separation value. Comparisons with a Canadian group of school pupils (n = 850) agreed well with the above. Follow-up examinations on the random selection of normal school population resulted in the detection of a lasting condition of depressive moodiness for 7 per cent of the participants. The international title "GCDI" is suggested for the modified German version of the KDI (1986) which corresponds to the CDI of Kovacs (1981).