iMedPub Journals http://www.imedpub.com Acta Psychopathologica ISSN 2469-6676 2016 Vol. 2 No. 6: 46 1 © Under License of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License | This article is available from: www.psychopathology.imedpub.com Research Article DOI: 10.4172/2469-6676.100072 Huda Ayyash-Abdo 1 , Johnny Nohra 2 , Sho Okawa 3 and Satoko Sasagawa 4 1 Department of Social Sciences, Lebanese American University, Lebanon 2 Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon 3 Musashino University, Graduate School of Human and Social Science, Tokyo Japan 4 Mejiro University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Tokyo, Japan Corresponding author: Huda Ayyash-Abdo  habdo@lau.edu.lb Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Social Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut 1102-2801, Beirut Campus, Lebanon. Tel: +961 1 786 456 Citation: Ayyash-Abdo H, Nohra J, Okawa S, et al. Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents in Lebanon: A Confrmatory Factor Analytc Study of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression for Children. Acta Psychopathol. 2016, 2:6. Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents in Lebanon: A Confrmatory Factor Analytc Study of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression for Children Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric propertes of the Lebanese-Arabic translaton of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) in preadolescents, early and late adolescents in Lebanon. The CES-DC is a 20 item self-report scale developed to measure depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. A total of 650 pupils ranging in age from 10–18 years, partcipated in this investgaton. Partcipants were also asked to complete two questonnaires the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the Strength and Difcultes Questonnaire (SDQ). The CES-DC Lebanese- Arabic version for this study demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha=0.90). It was found that the four-factor structure model suggested by Radlof can be replicated in Lebanon. The CES-DC total scores correlated signifcantly with the SCAS total scores and the SDQ emotonal symptoms subscale, providing support for its convergent validity. To conclude, the CES-DC proved to be a reliable and valid measure of depressive symptoms in the Lebanese context. Scores of depressive symptoms difered signifcantly by age, gender and were higher than scores of adolescents in other countries. Keywords: Depression; Preadolescents; Adolescents; Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC); Psychometric propertes Received: October 15, 2016; Accepted: December 09, 2016; Published: December 15, 2016 Introducton Adolescence is an important developmental stage in the lifespan and is characterized by many changes among which are physical and psychosocial. In Western countries 13-25% of adolescents will experience a mental disorder in their life time [1,2]. Adolescence seems to be a high-risk period for depression and anxiety disorders [3,4]. Research from developing countries indicates similar ranges [5-8]. Depression is one of most common psychological disorders in adolescence [9,10]. Depression in adolescence is associated with poor academic performance, substance abuse, attempted or completed suicide, and an increased risk for recurrence in adulthood [11,12]. During adolescence, satisfaction in life is decreased [13]. Assessment during this high-risk period can make the difference in early intervention and prevention of depression or a prolonged life of suffering. In some, but not all studies, there is a signifcant correlaton between the prevalence of depression and age [10,14-16]. In most studies, afer puberty, girls report signifcantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than boys [17-19]. Using the CES-DC, a consistent fnding is readily established; girls score higher than boys on depressive symptoms [20-24]. Notwithstanding, depression is ofen unnoticed and the use of screening instruments assists in receiving early interventon and access to professional help. This highlights the need to identfy clinically depressed adolescents at the early stages of depression in order to provide appropriate treatment. The efectveness of this recommendaton is based on the availability of sound screening tools for depression. At present, few resources are directed to addressing adolescent mental health in Lebanon. Moreover, WHO [25] reports that 13% of Gross Domestc Product