The document discusses various aspects of depression, highlighting its symptoms, affected demographics, and the importance of understanding and addressing this mental health condition. It reviews several assessment tools, including the Geriatric Depression Scale, PHQ-9, Hamilton Rating Scale, and DSM-5, noting their strengths and limitations in diagnosing and monitoring depression. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of the American Psychological Association's treatment guidelines in managing depressive disorders across all age groups.

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Test Development Proposal: Step One
Jane Doe
The University of Arizona Global Campus
RES7402: Advanced Tests & Measurements (QAH114DS)
Dr. John Doe
April 5, 2021
Test Development Proposal: Step One
Bushnell et al. 2019, describes depression disorder as disorder
that affects an individual's mood, usually making them has an
unrelenting feeling of sadness and interest loss (p.908). The
condition leads to a variety of physical and emotional problems.
The patients, therefore, experience trouble doing day-to-day
activities. Older adults and women are at a high risk of this
condition. Understanding the complexities 0f depression,
diagnosis, and treatment has never been more critical, whether
developing a better understanding of depression to an
individual’s personal life, a team, and an organization that
directly impacts communities. A better understanding of
depression is also fundamental in offering innovative leadership
ideas on handling this condition. This is especially very
important because data illustrates that there are a lot of deaths
that are attributed to depression.
In this construct, various characteristics can be assessed, but I
will be assessing the symptoms of this condition in this case.
Various characteristics are present to people suffering from this

2. condition. Some of the characteristics include feelings of
sadness and interest loss, suicidal tendencies, disturbed or lack
of sleep, isolation, inactivity, low self-esteem, guilt, disturbed
eating patterns, and overwhelming feelings. Most of the
available instruments assess almost these entire characteristics,
so it is essential to address them.
Tests and Instruments
Geriatric Depression Scale
The most widely used screening tools for depression among the
elderly is the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). It is significant
because of its validity and reliability (Guerin et al., 2018). GDS
is a screening test that helps in the identification of depression
symptoms in the aged group. Patients answer questions in a
yes/no format. The questions asked how a high connection with
depressive symptoms such as enjoyment level interest and social
interaction, among others. The patient needs to be evaluated
further if they get a score of 5 or above. This tool 's significant
advantage is it is easy and quick, taking less than 7 minutes to
complete. However, its challenge is that it has been observed
that some people may extend the time further as they may want
to expound further regarding their issues. The assessor,
therefore, has a duty of redirecting the patient back to the
question time and again. Similarly, some people are too much
into a depression that they find it difficult to answer the
question, while others do not wish to answer some personal
questions.
PHQ9
One of the most valuable tests is depression screening, also
known as PHQ9. This is a criteria-based diagnosis of
depressive disorder that is very reliable and valid in measuring
the symptoms of depression. The is nine-item tests that closely
follow the components of depression identified in APA
guidelines. It assesses an individual’s sleeping pattern and other
related factors. “This is where a questionnaire with the
question is used with a score that ranges from 0- 3” according
to Levis et al., 2019. This is not a screening tool, but rather it is

3. used to monitor the severity of depression and how the patient
responds to treatment. It is, however, used in diagnosing
depression in the population at risk, such in people with stroke
or coronary diseases. However, the major limitation is that
PHQ-9 helps to screen but does not offer a diagnosis.
Hamilton Rating Scale
This is a tool that is used in quantifying the rigorousness of
depression symptoms. It is one of the most extensively used and
acknowledged tools that assess depression, making it valid and
reliable. “The HRSD has demonstrated reliability, validity, and
efficiency in older adults. It contains 17 items, and it is rated on
a 3- or 5-point scale with the sum of all the items summed to
make up the total score” (Nixon et al, 2020, p.6). A patient can
yield a score of 0-61, and clinical cutoff scores range from 14-
20. 17 is the most common score. This tool's primary limitation
is that it is administered by a clinician, making it vulnerable to
loyalty effects and other related factors, which means the
questions can be influenced (Carrozzino et al., 2020).
DSM-5 Manual
DSM-5 is a manual that is used when assessing and diagnosing
mental disorders. It is one of the most valid and reliable tools
for patients of all age groups. It helps to identify the nature of
illness by examining the symptoms that a patient is presenting.
DSM-5 diagnoses help health professionals in understanding
their clients by directing their intercession from an evidence-
based standpoint. DSM-5 is organized into three sections. The
first section gives an introduction and information regarding
organizational features of professional, expert review, texts,
field trials, and public. The other section comprises diagnostic
criteria and codes. The last and the third segments deal with
measures of a glossary and conditions warranting more studies.
American Psychological Association Depression Guideline
The American Psychological Association (APA) created these
guideline to provide recommendations for the treatment of
multiple depressive disorders. This guideline serves as one of
the accessible tools used in analyzing depression symptoms and

4. treatment options. The tool is, more focused on the depression
treatment recommendations for all age groups. This means that
it covers the whole population. It reviews strategic steps from
early psychiatric management to treatment termination
(Bushnell et al., 2020). The tool has various tables that
illustrate various aspects. This tool's primary limitation is that
it does not focus much on the diagnosis like the treatment;
proper diagnosis is a crucial step for the success of any illness.
References
Bushnell, D. M., McCarrier, K. P., Bush, E. N., Abraham, L.,
Jamieson, C., McDougall, F., Trivedi, M. H., Thase, M. E.,
Carpenter, L., & Coons, S. J. (2019). Symptoms of Major
Depressive Disorder Scale: Performance of a Novel Patient-
Reported Symptom Measure. Value in Health : The Journal of
the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes
Research, 22(8), 906–915. https://doi-org.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/10.1016/j.jval.2019.02.010
Carrozzino, D., Patierno, C., Fava, G. A., & Guidi, J. (2020).
The Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression: a critical review of
clinometric properties of different versions. Psychotherapy and
psychosomatics, 89(3), 133-150.
Guerin, J. M., Copersino, M. L., & Schretlen, D. J. (2018).
Clinical utility of the 15-item geriatric depression scale (GDS-
5) for use with young and middle-aged adults. Journal of
affective disorders, 241, 59-62.
Levis, B., Benedetti, A., & Thombs, B. D. (2019). Accuracy of
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for screening to detect
major depression: Individual participant data meta-
analysis. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 365.
Nixon, N., Guo, B., Garland, A., Kaylor-Hughes, C., Nixon, E.,
& Morriss, R. (2020). The bi-factor structure of the 17-item
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in persistent major
depression; dimensional measurement of outcome. PLoS
ONE, 15(10), 1–13. https://doi-org.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0241370