REYNOLDS ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION SCALE, SECOND EDITION

RADS-2

General Test Information:Test Author: William M. Reynolds, Ph.D.

Psychological Assessment Resources, INC. (PAR)1986 (RAD); 2002 (RADS-2)1-800-331-8378www.parinc.com

Cost of the RADS-2: • $151.00 KIT: 1 Manual; 25 Hand Scorable Test Booklets; 25 Summary/Profile Forms

• $70.00 MANUAL • $58.00 HAND-SCORABLE TEST BOOKLET (Pkg. of 25) • $37.00 SUMMARY/PROFILE FORMS (Pkg. of 25)

Examiner Qualifications: S or B level.

Reliability & Validity:

• Internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability have been substantiated through numerous studies, not only in the U.S. but in other countries as well, and amongst diverse adolescent populations.

• Extensive studies have also been conducted on the RADS-2 regarding criterion related, content, convergent and discriminant, and clinical and contrasted groups validity. Statistical significance has been found within all these types of validity.

• For example, criterion related validity is substantiated between the RADS-2 and other measures of depression, such as the MMPI, with correlation coefficients ranging from .7 to .8.

RADS-2 is a Self Report Inventory It measures symptomology of depressionMeasurement is done on a continuumIt does NOT diagnose DepressionIt can help create red flags

Symptomatology is evaluated along the following four basic

dimensions of depression:

Dysphoric Mood Anhedonia/Negative AffectNegative Self-EvaluationSomatic Complaints.

So what is it really measuring and what will the RADS-2 tell me??

Um, you said that it does NOT diagnose depression...

What can the RADS-2 tell you:

• The Depression Total Scale notes the severity of probable clinical depressive indicators, from a range of normal, mild, moderate, or severe (with established cut off points).

• There are six critical items that can alert clinicians that the test-taker might be experiencing significant levels of depression, regardless of the test-score.

Who is it intended for???Adolescents, ranging from ages 11-20Though the test is the same across all age

levels, scores can be compared to normative data that is stratified by gender and/or age,

Ages are grouped accordingly: 11-13, 14-16, and 17-20 years of age.

Can be used across settings (school, mental health agency)

Can be administered individually or in groupsValidity has been tested across cultures

What is the difference between the original RADS???

RADS-2 has been standardized and stratified (gender, age) according the 2000 Census. It

provides “updated” normative tables for Depression Total and the four subscales.

What Does it Look Like?It includes 30 questions, representative of

depression symptomologyIt is written at a third grade reading levelThe test form is one page Test-takers respond on a Likhart scale ,

ranging from a 1 to 4, 1 representing “almost never” and 4 being “most of the time.”

Lets Take a Quick Look at the RADS-2 …

to see some specific question examples

That can’t be right, it sounds too easy!!!!

THAT IS BECAUSE IT IS!!! THE TEST ONLY TAKES ABOUT 5-10 MINUTES TO ADMINISTER!!!

It sounds to good to be true!

What are some other practical characteristics???

So far we have identified that the RADS 2 … Can be administered in groups and across settings Individual scores can be compared to specific normative data Takes only 5-10 minutes to administer Clinically derived cut off points Six critical items that can alert clinicians

Practical Characteristics of the RADS-2• Establishing test taker rapport: Individuals may be presented with

a statement before beginning the measure which communicates the idea that the test is a personal profile. Additionally, the test booklet itself is titled “About Myself”, thus making it sound less daunting for the test taker.

• Carbonless transfer of the student’s response to questions onto the scoring form

• Standard scores (T-scores) and percentile ranks for “depression total” and subscale scores, along with comparison normative data and clinically set cut off points.

• Easy to score as well, taking about 10 minutes.

Talking about scoring… The scoring procedure is easy and clear, with instructions given on the

Summary/Profile Form.

The value of each item answered is already accounted for using the scoring criteria located under the carbon testing sheet.

Ease is facilitated as reverse items have already been accounted for and the relating dimension is located next to each item score.

Raw scores are then tallied for each of the four sub-scales in the test-booklet

and then transferred into the Summary/Profile form. On this latter form, the Depression Total is also calculated.

The raw-scores are then referenced in the user’s manual as to obtain T score and Percentile rankings. T-scores of the four sub-scales and depression total can then be plotted on the reverse side of the sheet

Let us take another look at the RADS-2

and look at the scoring procedure

WE HAVE TALKED A BIT ABOUT THE VARIOUS BENEFITS OF THE RADS-2…

What Are the Limitations?

Reviews: “Examination of adolescents' responses on these items may provide

useful clinical information regarding factors affecting their depressive symptoms, but they should not be relied on for screening purposes.” (Gutierrez, 2009)

The major disadvantage relates to the scales’ development, and predominant use, with school samples .This may decrease their utility with clinical samples (Kazdin,1990), as suggested by the RADS’ decreased ability to detect treatment effects compared with other scales (Reynolds & Coats, 1986). Finally, sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff scores with clinical samples are not established.” (as cited in Myers & Winters, 2002)

“TheRADS-2 is a promising screening tool, but additional research is needed to clarify issues of sensitivity and specificity” (Myers & Winters, 2002).