Psychometrics and latent structure of the IDS and QIDS with young adult students

Background: Students and young adults have high rates of suicide and depression, thus are a population of interest. To date, there is no normative psychometric information on the IDS and QIDS in these populations. Furthermore, there is equivocal evidence on the factor structure and subscales of the IDS. Methods: Two samples of young adult students (ns=475 and 1681) were given multiple measures to test the psychometrics and dimensionality of the IDS and QIDS. Results: The IDS, its subscales, and QIDS had acceptable internal consistencies (αs=.79-90) and favorable convergent and divergent validity correlations. A three-factor structure and two Rasch-derived subscales best fit the IDS. Limitations: The samples were collected from one university, which may influence generalizability. Conclusions: The IDS and QIDS are desirable measures of depressive symptoms when studying young adult students.