Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide; it can also be one of the most disabling. A person with depression has lost hope of ever enjoying life again.

There are various psychological tests that evaluate depression; however, today we will focus on the Goldberg Depression Test , which is a screening tool to detect the presence of depressive symptoms (it is not a diagnostic tool).

Goldberg depression test: characteristics

The Goldberg Depression Test is a psychological test, as its name suggests, aimed at determining whether or not there are symptoms of depression (it is an orientation or screening test, not a diagnostic one).

Also known as the Goldberg Depression Inventory, it is an 18-question test that provides immediate feedback on the level of depression experienced by the test subject or patient.

It was designed by Dr. Ivan K. Goldberg, an American psychiatrist . The Goldberg Depression Test is a simple, self-administered screening test for depression.

Questions

The questions follow a likert format with six answer options each, always the same: “not at all”, “a little”, “sometimes”, “moderately”, “quite” and “a lot”. The questions or statements to be answered by the person being evaluated are of the type: “I find it difficult to make decisions”, or “The pleasure and happiness seem to have disappeared in my life”.

When answering the questions, the test taker should respond by taking into account what he/she has experienced, as well as his/her state of mind , in the last seven days. In other words, you should focus only on that particular period.

Results

As for the results of the Goldberg depression test, we must be cautious, since the test will provide us with purely indicative results, never diagnostic ones . For this reason, in the case of suspicion of moderate or severe depression, a specialized professional or doctor should be consulted to make the pertinent referral.

Applications

The Goldberg depression test can also be used not only as a diagnostic screening, but also as a follow-up tool, to check the patient’s progress throughout the sessions.

It is known that a 5% variation in results can represent a symptom of both improvement and worsening.

Goldberg’s questionnaire: also for anxiety

Goldberg actually also developed a complete questionnaire, which also included an anxiety scale; the so-called Goldberg questionnaire or Goldberg scale (EADG). This questionnaire consists of two completely independent scales, one for anxiety and one for depression.

The questionnaire has very high values of sensitivity and specificity, and is therefore widely used for health care and epidemiological purposes, as well as a screening instrument and as a guide to the clinical interview in Primary Care.

Subscales

Each of the subscales of the Goldberg Depression Test (the depression and anxiety subscale) are administered simultaneously, and is structured into 4 initial items that help to determine whether or not a mental disorder is probable , and into 5 secondary items that are only formulated if positive responses are obtained to the first 4 items (2 or more on the anxiety subscale, 1 or more on the depression subscale).

Questions and cut-off points

Questions 1-9 correspond to the anxiety subscale, and questions 10-18 correspond to the depression subscale. The first 4 questions of each subscale (questions 1-4) and (questions 10-13) respectively, are the precondition to determine if the rest of the questions should be answered.

Thus, if a minimum of 2 questions out of questions 1-4 are answered in the affirmative, the rest of the first subscale must not be answered, while in the second subscale it is sufficient to answer in the affirmative to one question out of 10-13 to continue answering the rest.

The cut-off point for the anxiety scale is 4 (or more), and for depression it is 2 (or more).

Bibliographic references:

  • Arrieta, K.M., DĂ­as, S., and González, F. (2014). Symptoms of depression and anxiety in university youth: prevalence and related factors. REV CLĂŤN MED FAM, 7(1): 14-22.
  • Balanza, S., Morales, I, Guerrero, J, and Conesa, A. (2008). Reliability and validity of a questionnaire to measure in university students the association of anxiety and depression with academic and psychosocial factors during the 2004-2005 academic year. Rev Esp Salud PĂşblica, 2(82): 189-200.
  • GarcĂ­a, C. (1999). Manual for the use of Goldberg’s general health questionnaire: Cuban adaptation. Revista Cubana de Medicina General Integral, 15(1), 88-97.
  • Goldberg D, Bridges K, Duncan-Jones P, Grayson D. Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. Br Med J. 1988; 297 (6653): 897-915.