A Short Version of the Beck Depression Inventory Without Omission of Clinical Indicators
Abstract
Summary: The original Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-O) consists of 21 item groups. Each group contains four options (i. e., 84 overall statements). The proposed short BDI version contains only 21 statements denoting the highest degree of clinical depression, i. e., the last alternative in each item group. Items of the short version were introduced in two response forms: Likert (L) and Yes/No (Y/N) format. Two depression subscales derived from the Symptom Check List-90 and the Hopkins Symptom Check List were also used. A sample of 203 male and female volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates was recruited. It was found that the BDI-O had relatively lesser skew and kurtosis. However, the M/SD ratio was well balanced in the BDI-L and not in the original and BDI-Y/N versions. Cronbach's α, correlations with four other scales, and loadings onto two separate factors of depression were high in both BDI-O and BDI-L - although they were higher in the BDI-L. It also had improved factorial structure. Nevertheless, the proposed short BDI-L version contains only one-fourth of the BDI-O without deleting any of its symptom indicators. Therefore, it was concluded that the short BDI-L version can make a good contribution to enhancing the BDI cost-effectiveness, especially in empirical research projects containing loaded test batteries.
References
References
Abdel-Khalek, A.M. (1998). Internal consistency of an Arabic adaptation of the Beck Depression Inventory in four Arab counties. Psychological Reports, 82, 264– 266Al-Behairy, A.A. (1984). Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) . Cairo: Maktabat Al-Nahda Al-Misriya (in Arabic)Al-Khawaja, J.M.A. (1995). The relationship between traumatic events and traits of anxiety and depression by using Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Scale and Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. Journal of the Faculty of Arts, Menoufia University, Egypt, No. 22,189-208 (in Arabic)Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed.). New York: MacmillanAndrews, G. (1996). Comorbidity in neurotic disorders: The similarities are more important than the differences. In R.M. Rapee (Ed.), Current controversies in the anxiety disorders (pp. 3-20). New York: GuilfordBarrett, P. Personal communication (April 15, 2000). The importance of small SD's in relation to a mean value for a sample.Beck, A.T. (1967). Depression: Causes and treatment . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania PressBeck, A. Ward, C. Mendelson, M. Mock, J. Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561– 571Beck, A.T. Beck, R.W. (1972). Screening depressed patients in family practice: A rapid technique. Postgraduate Medicine, 52, 81– 85Beck, A.T. Epstein, N. Brown, G. Steer, R.A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 56, 893– 897Beck, A.T. Lester, D. (1973). Components of depression in attempted suicide. Journal of Psychology, 85, 257– 260Beck, A. Steer, R. Garbin, M. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77– 100Beck, A.T. Steer, R.A. (1993). Beck Depression Inventory manual . San Antonio, TX: The Psychological CorporationBeck, A.T. Steer, R.A. Brown, G.K. (1996). Manual for Beck Depression Inventory-II (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological CorporationBerndt, D.J. (1990). Inventories and scales. In B. Wolman & G. Stricker (Eds.), Depressive disorders: Facts, theories, and treatment methods (pp. 255-274). New York: WileyBoyle, G.J. (1985). Self-report measures of depression: Some psychometric considerations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24, 45– 59Burisch, M. (1984). You don't always get what you pay for: Measuring depression with short and simple versus long and sophisticated scales. Journal of Research in Personality, 18, 81– 98Burisch, M. (1997). Test length and validity revisited. European Journal of Personality, 11, 303– 3151992). The changing rate of major depression: Cross-national comparisons. Journal of the American Medical Association, 268, 3098– 3105
(Dahlstrom, W.G. Brooks, J.D. Peterson, C.D. (1990). The Beck Depression Inventory: Item order and the impact of response sets. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 224– 233Derogatis, L.R. Lipman, R.S. Covi, L. (1973). The SCL-90: An outpatient psychiatric rating scale: Preliminary report. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9, 13– 27Derogatis, L.R. Lipman, R.S. Rickels, K. Uhlenhuth, E.H. Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1– 15Glazer, H.I. Clarkin, J.F. Hunt, H.F. (1981). Assessment of depression. In J.F. Clarkin & H.I. Glazer (Eds.), Depression: Behavioral and directive intervention strategies (pp. 3-30). New York: GarlandKellner, R. Uhlenhuth, E.H. (1991). The rating and self-rating of anxiety. British Journal of Psychiatry, 159, Suppl. 12 15– 22Klerman, G. (1979). The age of melancholy. Psychology Today, 10, 73– 88Lester, D. Abdel-Khalek, A.M. (1997). Gender and depression in undergraduate populations: A comment. Psychological Reports, 81, 1210– 1210Masters, J.R. (1974). The relationship between number of response categories and reliability of Likert-type questionnaires. Journal of Educational Measurement, 11, 49– 53McGrath, E. Keita, G.P. Strickland, B.R. Russo, N.F. (1995). Women and depression: Risk factors and treatment issues . The Final Report of the American Psychological Association's National Task Force, Washington: APAMerrens, M. R. Richards, W.S. (1973). Length of personality inventory and the evaluation of a generalized personality interpretation. Journal of Personality Assessment, 37, 83– 85Mitchell, M. Jolley, J. (1988). Research design explained . New York: Holt, Rinehart & WinstonMourad, S. A. (March 16, 1999). Personal communicationNolen-Hoeksema, S. (1990). Sex differences in depression . Stanford: Stanford University PressNunnally, J. (1970). Introduction to psychological measurement . New York: McGraw-HillRadloff, L.S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385– 401Rehm, L.P. (1988). Assessment of depression. In A.S. Bellack & M. Hersen (Eds.), Behavioral assessment: A practical handbook (3rd ed., pp. 313-364). New York: PergamonRosenberg, S.J. Peterson, R.A. Hayes, J.R. Hatcher, J. Headen, S. (1988). Depression in medical inpatients. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 61, 245– 254Santor, D.A. Coyne, J.C. (1997). Shortening the CES-D to improve its ability to detect cases of depression. Psychological Assessment, 9, 233– 2431990). SPSS: Statistical data analysis . Chicago, IL: SPSS
(Tyrer, P. Seivewright, N. Ferguson, B. Tyrer, J. (1992). The general neurotic syndrome: A coaxial diagnosis of anxiety, depression and personality disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 85, 201– 206Velicer, W.F. DiClemente, C.C. Corriveau, D.P. (1984). Item format and the structure of the Personal Orientation Inventory. Applied Psychological Measurement, 8, 409– 419Velicer, W.F. Govia, J.M. Cherico, N.P. Corriveau, D.P. (1985). Item Format and the structure of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory. Aggressive Behavior, 11, 65– 82Vredenburg, K. Krames, L. Flett, G.L. (1985). Reexamining the Beck Depression Inventory: The long and short of it. Psychological Reports, 56, 767– 778Williams, J.M.G. (1992). The psychological treatment of depression: A guide to the theory and practice of cognitive behavior therapy (2nd ed.). London: Routledge