Small Enough to Use, Sharper Together: VQIDS and FIRM in U.S. Youth Ages 6 18
- 1Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University
Abstract
ObjectiveBrief measures of depressive symptoms and family psychiatry history may support the identification of youth who warrant further assessment, but their interpretation requires population-based measurement evidence. This study evaluated the Very Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (VQIDS) and Family Index of Risk for Mood (FIRM) in the BENCHMARK 2025 national survey.
MethodThe sample consisted of 2,252 parent reports for children aged 6-18 years and 1,008 linked adolescent self-reports aged 12-18 years. Analyses examined VQIDS dimensionality, reliability, item functioning, age- and sex-based norms, and informant agreement, alongside FIRM score distributions, alternative scoring approaches, and associations with depressive symptoms.
ResultsVQIDS findings supported a single dimension and good internal consistency, with greatest IRT precision at elevated symptom levels and no practically meaningful differential item functioning across age or sex. Two-week stability was moderate, and parent-adolescent agreement was lower within more symptomatic subsets. FIRM totals showed stronger cross-informant agreement and retest stability. Family history scores were associated with higher VQIDS percentiles and discriminated scores at or above the 90th percentile across informants (AUROC = .670-.698). FIRMs associations were strongest with internalizing symptoms, although evidence was mixed for mood specificity.
ConclusionsThese findings provide a measurement and normative foundation for brief depressive symptom assessment and support family history as a complementary correlate of symptom elevation. Diagnostic and prospective prediction utility require further evaluation.
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BibTeX
@misc{algorta2026small,
title = {{Small Enough to Use, Sharper Together: VQIDS and FIRM in U.S. Youth Ages 6 18}},
author = {G. Perez Algorta and L. Y. Li and Y. Liu and E. A. Youngstrom and P. A. Rodda and A. J. Rush},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.13.26365411},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.13.26365411v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Small Enough to Use, Sharper Together: VQIDS and FIRM in U.S. Youth Ages 6 18
AU - G. Perez Algorta
AU - L. Y. Li
AU - Y. Liu
AU - E. A. Youngstrom
AU - P. A. Rodda
AU - A. J. Rush
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.13.26365411
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.13.26365411v1
AB - ObjectiveBrief measures of depressive symptoms and family psychiatry history may support the identification of youth who warrant further assessment, but their interpretation requires population-based measurement evidence. This study evaluated the Very Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (VQIDS) and Family Index of Risk for Mood (FIRM) in the BENCHMARK 2025 national survey. MethodThe sample consisted of 2,252 parent reports for children aged 6-18 years and 1,008 linked adolescent self-reports aged 12-18 years. Analyses examined VQIDS dimensionality, reliability, item functioning, age- and sex-based norms, and informant agreement, alongside FIRM score distributions, alternative scoring approaches, and associations with depressive symptoms. ResultsVQIDS findings supported a single dimension and good internal consistency, with greatest IRT precision at elevated symptom levels and no practically meaningful differential item functioning across age or sex. Two-week stability was moderate, and parent-adolescent agreement was lower within more symptomatic subsets. FIRM totals showed stronger cross-informant agreement and retest stability. Family history scores were associated with higher VQIDS percentiles and discriminated scores at or above the 90th percentile across informants (AUROC = .670-.698). FIRMs associations were strongest with internalizing symptoms, although evidence was mixed for mood specificity. ConclusionsThese findings provide a measurement and normative foundation for brief depressive symptom assessment and support family history as a complementary correlate of symptom elevation. Diagnostic and prospective prediction utility require further evaluation.
ER -