A SELF-RATING depression inventory was required for use in a current field study.1The scales of Beck,2Zung,3Lubin,4and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Depression (MMPI-D)5were evaluated by three criteria: whether they sample the entire spectrum of depression, how sensitive they are to small differences from normal, and how intelligible they are to working class and lower-middle class people. The MMPI-D and the Zung Depression scales were both felt to sample only limited areas of the depression syndrome. Lubin's Adjective Check Lists contain too many unusual words. Beck's scale appears directed more toward a hospital population and does not meet the second or third requirements. An inventory of 101 items comprising 19 indices has been constructed and administered to psychiatric outpatient and normal samples. Data on internal consistency, temporal stability, and validity are offered. A factor-analysis of indices