This 30-item self-report measures the four basic dimensions of depression: Dysphoric Mood, Anhedonia/Negative Affect, Negative Self-Evaluation, and Somatic Complaints. The RADS-2 standard scores and associated clinical cutoff score provide an indication of the clinical severity of the individual’s depressive symptoms.

• Scores are plotted on a Summary/Profile Form, allowing comparison of elevations across subscales.
• A Depression Total score represents the overall severity of depressive symptomatology.
• An empirically derived clinical cutoff score helps to identify adolescents who may be at risk for a depressive disorder or a related disorder. Data demonstrate the ability of this cutoff score to discriminate between adolescents with major depressive disorder and an age- and gender-matched control group.
• The six RADS-2 critical items are those that have been identified as being most predictive of a depressive disorder diagnosis.
• Standardized with a school-based sample of 3,300 adolescents that was stratified to reflect 2000 U.S. Census data for gender and ethnicity.
• Reliability and validity studies included a school-based sample of more than 9,000 adolescents and a clinical sample of adolescents with DSM-III-R™ or DSM-IV™ diagnoses who were evaluated in both school and clinical settings.