The MFQ is a 32-item questionnaire based on DSM-III-R criteria for depression. Additional items (e.g. loneliness, feeling unloved) were included due to their clinical significance to the construct. An 11 item subscale, based on the discriminating ability between the depressed and nondepressed, was developed as a short form alternative (SMFQ). Each item is to be rated on a 3 point scale: "true", "sometimes true", and "not true" with respect to the events of the past two weeks. Both parent- and child-report forms are available.