Factor Analytic Evaluation of Differences Between Black and Caucasian Emotionally Disturbed Children on the Children’s Depression Inventory

Scores on the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) for 392 caucasian and 159 black psychiatric inpatients between 6 and 18 years of age were subjected to principal-components factor extraction with Varimax rotation. A comparison of CDI factors for blacks and caucasians indicated some differences, with blacks being less suicidal yet higher on other behavioral dimensions, such as oppositionality, and caucasians higher on affective dimensions, such as sadness. The results support research on black-caucasian differences and suggest the need to validate further the CDI with minority populations. (25 refs)