The Role of the Clinical Interview in Diagnosing Depression Among Adolescent Students

Abstract

Abstract

 This research aims to examine the role of the clinical interview in diagnosing cases of depression among adolescents, given the unique psychological and social characteristics of this developmental stage, which make it more vulnerable to mental disorders, particularly depression.

The study addresses the increasing prevalence of depression among adolescents and the need for accurate diagnostic tools that can assist mental health professionals in early detection and appropriate treatment.

The research relied on two main tools: the clinical interview and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). These tools were applied to a sample of male and female middle school students from Al-Rusafa First(70) Directorate of Education in Baghdad for the academic year 2024/2025.

The research yielded a set of findings, summarized as follows:

First Objective: To identify the role of the clinical interview in diagnosing depression among adolescents. The results indicated varying levels of depression based on the interview form, with cases distributed across mild, moderate, and severe depression.

Second Objective: To identify depression levels among adolescents using the Beck Depression Inventory. The participants were classified into different levels of depression, and the results showed a high degree of similarity between the levels identified by the BDI and those observed through the clinical interview.

Third Objective: To determine the significance of differences between the sample’s depression levels as measured by the BDI and the clinical interview. The findings indicated that the differences between the two methods were not statistically significant, suggesting consistency between the tools in diagnosis.

Fourth Objective: To examine the correlation between participants’ scores on the BDI and the clinical interview. The results showed a strong and statistically significant correlation between the two methods.

The researchers used appropriate statistical methods to achieve the research objectives, including: percentage to assess the validity of the research tools, Chi-square test to determine significant differences between items, Pearson correlation coefficient to study the significance .

of the relationship, and the independent samples t-test to identify significant differences between the results of the two tools.

The researchers also presented a set of recommendations and suggestions.

Keywords: Clinical Interview, Depression Diagnosis, Adolescent Students