This article presents a review of the Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI 2), published by Multi-Health Systems (MHS) to assess depressive symptoms in 7- to 17-year-old children and adolescents. Given the importance of early diagnosis and treatment (Kovacs & Devlin, 1998), the CDI 2 can assist professionals to pinpoint critical depressive symptoms a child may experience. Parent and teacher forms facilitate inclusive assessment of children's affective disorders and dysfunctions through multiple viewpoints. The review finds that the sophisticated features of the CDI 2 such as specific scales for Emotional and Functional Problems, additional subscales, and age and sex norms firmly support the theoretical model of depressive symptoms in youth. Also, the scales on Functional Problems regarding peers, school, and family show relevance to the targeted population. In terms of relative weaknesses, the CDI 2 has mainly written-text formats, so measurement alternatives for special youth with cognitive or physical disabilities are necessary. As the standardization samples were selected only within the United States, the norms may not represent the populations in other countries with different social and cultural backgrounds which impact on affective issues. Therefore, with more translations and norms, the CDI 2 could be used much more effectively with youth from diverse backgrounds. The review concludes that even though CDI 2 measurements reflect the degree or intensity of ongoing depressive manifestations, the results should be integrated with careful diagnostic judgment as part of a larger information-gathering process. Considering the properties of the CDI 2, repeated measurements to assess changes in depressive symptoms over time are recommended, but use with children under involuntary conditions is not recommended. (Contains 1 note.)