Yesavage’s Geriatric Depression Questionnaire(GDS‐VE): Analysis of its internal structure inolder adults living in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundDepression represents one of the most frequent and disabling mood disorders in the elderly population. To measure it, one of the most used scales is the Geriatric Depression Questionnaire, developed by Yesavage, in its abbreviated version (GDS‐VE). Despite its ample acknowledgment and frequent use, an analysis of these characteristics has not yet been carried out on the Argentine population. Currently, because of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the isolation context, the American Psychological Association recommends adapting face‐to‐face to virtual practices. Given this need, the present work aims to analyze the internal structure of the GDS‐VE, for pencil/paper and Internet modalities examining the metric equivalence between both of them.MethodA confirmatory factor analysis was carried out and the internal consistency was estimated for both modalities.ResultFactor invariance between both forms of administration was also examined. A total of 696 older adults participated and responded to the questionnaire, using two modes of administration (50% pencil‐paper and 50% Internet). As a result, an adequate adjustment of the model to the empirical data was verified for both versions (pencil‐paper and Internet), as well as an adequate metric invariance between them.ConclusionThese findings provide evidence of validity and reliability of the GDS‐VE instrument on the Argentine population.