A rating scale is needed for clinical and research studies of depression in childhood. A Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS) was devised and tested on 30 inpatient children in a medical hospital. A high correlation was found between the global ratings by two psychiatrists of the severity of depression and the scores on the CDRS. The items on the CDRS which had the highest correlation with a global rating of depression were social withdrawal, capacity for fun, irritability, schoolwork, expressive communication, general somatic features, hypoactivity, and depressed mood. The syndrome of depression in childhood can be characterized and rated primarily by observed behaviors.