Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self-Report (IDS-SR): A Full Guide for Researchers and Clinicians
Published
The IDS-SR is a 28-item self-report measure of depressive symptoms, scored 0 to 78. Learn its four factors, scoring, reliability and translated versions.
Introduction
The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self-Report (IDS-SR) is a 28-item self-report measure of the specific signs and symptoms of depression. A. John Rush and colleagues published it in 1986, together with its clinician-rated twin, the IDS-C. Its total score ranges from 0 to 78, and the original article has received at least 1,200 citations.
The developers worked at the Affective Disorders Unit and Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, and the study appeared in Psychiatry Research. This guide explains the IDS-SR's content, scoring, factor structure, translations and psychometric evidence.
Key Features of the IDS-SR
Purpose and Use
The IDS-SR measures specific signs and symptoms of depression in inpatients and outpatients, as reported by patients themselves. It is matched item by item to the clinician-rated IDS-C.
Target Population
The IDS-SR is intended for adults. In the original study, it was tested mainly in outpatients (285 of 289 patients) with unipolar major depression, bipolar disorder, remitted affective disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses. The authors describe the findings as preliminary.
Structure
The IDS-SR contains 28 items, and 26 count toward the total, because respondents answer only one appetite item and one weight item. The items cover vegetative symptoms, cognitive changes, mood disturbance, endogenous features, and anxiety and somatic symptoms. A principal components analysis limited to four factors explained 45.1% of the variance:
Mood and cognitionAnxious/hypochondriacal symptoms: sleep-onset insomnia, psychomotor changes, somatic and gastrointestinal complaints, sympathetic arousal, and panic or phobic symptomsEndogenous symptoms: decreased weight and appetite, middle and terminal insomnia, and diurnal mood variationAtypical features: increased weight and appetite, and hypersomniaScoring Method
Respondents rate each item from 0 to 3; higher ratings indicate greater severity. All 26 scored items carry equal weight, so the total ranges from 0 to 78.
Time frame: the past 7 days for most items; the weight items refer to the last 2 weeks.Item 9: a supplementary question asks whether mood is typically worse in the morning, afternoon or night. It does not count toward the 0–3 rating.Not reported: reverse-scored items, subscale scores and cut-off values. The authors left subscale development from the four factors for future work.Administration Format
The IDS-SR is a self-report questionnaire, so patients complete it themselves. Because its items match the IDS-C, clinicians can compare self-ratings with their own ratings.
Applications of the IDS-SR
The IDS-SR supports several uses:
Severity rating: measuring depressive symptom severity from the patient's perspective.Depression features: capturing mood, anxious, endogenous and atypical symptom patterns.Research: pairing self-ratings with clinician ratings on matched items.Languages and availability
Researchers have translated and validated the IDS-SR in several languages:
German: translation and psychometric validationIndonesian: psychometric properties of the Indonesian versionChinese: preliminary findings for the Chinese versionTurkish: validity and reliability of the clinician and self-report forms in major depressionReliability and Validity
In the original study, the IDS-SR showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85). Item-total correlations ranged from 0.25 to 0.72, except for the quality of mood item (r = 0.15), which was weak and has since been reworded. Furthermore, it showed concurrent validity with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.78) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (r = 0.67).
Validation studies:
The Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology (IDS): preliminary findings (1986): study linkThe Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology: German translation and psychometric validation (2007): study linkThe IDS-SR: psychometric properties of the Indonesian version (2017): study linkLimitations and Considerations
Users should consider the following points:
Preliminary evidence: the authors present the original findings as preliminary.No cut-off scores: cut-off scores and sensitivity to change were not established.Quality of mood item: this item was weak in the original version and has since been reworded.Self-report: scores reflect how patients describe their own symptoms.Other Versions And Related Questionnaires
The IDS-SR is part of a family of measures:
The clinician-rated version, the IDS-C, developed in parallel and reported in the same articleThe 16-item QIDS-SR16 and QIDS-C16; see also a psychometric evaluation of the IDS and QIDS in public sector patientsThe original study also compared the IDS-SR with these measures:
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD); see the ResRef HAM-D guideBeck Depression Inventory (BDI); see the ResRef BDI-II guideZung Depression Scale; see the ResRef Zung SDS guideSymptom Checklist (SCL)-90 D Scale and MMPI-D scaleCarroll Rating Scale (CRS) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS)Montgomery-Åsberg, Raskin, von Zerssen and Newcastle scalesAdditional Resources
The original study on PubMed: linkAn overview of the IDS-SR on Embloom: linkFor inquiries, the reprint address is Dr. A. John Rush, Affective Disorders Unit and Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235, USA.Browse more depression questionnaires in the ResRef database.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What does the IDS-SR measure?The IDS-SR measures the severity of specific depressive signs and symptoms as reported by the patient, including mood, cognitive, vegetative, endogenous, anxiety and somatic symptoms over the past 7 days.
How is the IDS-SR scored?Each item scores 0 to 3. Only one appetite item and one weight item count, so 26 items are summed, giving a total from 0 to 78. Higher scores indicate greater severity.
What is the difference between the IDS-SR and the IDS-C?The IDS-SR is completed by the patient, whereas a clinician completes the IDS-C. The two versions match item by item, so their ratings can be compared directly.
Does the IDS-SR have a cut-off score?No. The original study did not establish cut-off scores or sensitivity to change, and the authors described its findings as preliminary.
A Word from ResRef About the IDS-SR
The IDS-SR is a symptom-level self-report measure of depression severity, developed in a mostly outpatient psychiatric sample. It showed good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and concurrent validity with the BDI and HRSD in the original study. The authors present the findings as preliminary; cut-off scores and sensitivity to change were not established, and the quality of mood item was weak in this version.
References
Rush, A. J., Giles, D. E., Schlesser, M. A., Fulton, C. L., Weissenburger, J., & Burns, C. (1986). The Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology (IDS): preliminary findings. Psychiatry Research, 18(1), 65–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1781(86)90060-0Drieling, T., Schärer, L. O., & Langosch, J. M. (2007). The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology: German translation and psychometric validation. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16(4), 230–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.226Arjadi, R., Nauta, M. H., Utoyo, D. B., & Bockting, C. L. H. (2017). The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self Report (IDS-SR): Psychometric properties of the Indonesian version. PloS One, 12(10), e0187009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187009Wu, D., Yin, H., Xu, S., Carmody, T., & Morris, D. W. (2010). Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology (IDS): Preliminary findings. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 3(3), 126–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2010.08.003Trivedi, M. H., Rush, A. J., Ibrahim, H. M., Carmody, T. J., Biggs, M. M., Suppes, T., Crismon, M. L., Shores-Wilson, K., Toprac, M. G., Dennehy, E. B., Witte, B., & Kashner, T. M. (2004). The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Clinician Rating (IDS-C) and Self-Report (IDS-SR), and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Clinician Rating (QIDS-C) and Self-Report (QIDS-SR) in public sector patients with mood disorders: a psychometric evaluation. Psychological Medicine, 34(1), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291703001107