The Factor Structure of the CES-D in the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: the Influences of Ethnicity, Gender and Language

In this paper, we examine the factor structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) in the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Hispanic HANES). The Hispanic HANES provides a unique opportunity to examine the patterning of depressive symptoms among the three major Hispanic groups in the U.S. and to compare the factor structures that emerge from the analysis to other studies using this approach. Different factor structures emerged for the Hispanic groups as compared to previous analyses of the CES-D with non-Hispanic populations. We also found significant intra-group differences among Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban-Americans which were strongly influenced by the gender of the respondent and the language in which the person was interviewed.