Pregraduate students (N = 144) used a modified version of the Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI; Kazdin, 1980a) to rate the acceptability of one of three treatments for depression (cognitive therapy, cognitive bibliotherapy, and antidepressant medication) for one of three cases of a depressed elderly person (mild, moderate or severe symptoms). Factorial analysis of the modified version of the TEI revealed two factors (treatment acceptability and negative aspects) which accounted for 72.8 per cent of the total variance. The modified TEI was shown to possess good concurrent validity as well as good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Subjects rated all treatments as equally acceptable, and treatments were judged more acceptable for mild to moderate symptoms.