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Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1026/0012-1924/a000105

Der Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) ist ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung der Persönlichkeitsmerkmale Selbstkritik und Abhängigkeit, die als Vulnerabilitätsfaktoren für Depression gelten. Aufgrund seiner Länge und seiner komplexen Auswertungsprozedur wurden im englischsprachigen Raum verschiedene Kurzversionen des DEQ entwickelt. Das Ziel dieser Studie war die psychometrische Überprüfung der verschiedenen DEQ-Versionen in deutscher Sprache sowie die Validierung einer geeigneten Kurzversion. An insgesamt 708 Personen (404 Patienten und 304 nicht-klinische Personen) wurden die psychometrischen Eigenschaften der verschiedenen Versionen verglichen. Es zeigte sich, dass der Theoretische Depressive Experiences Questionnaire–12 Item Version (TDEQ-12) insbesondere aufgrund seiner faktoriellen Validität die besten psychometrischen Eigenschaften aufwies. Zusätzliche Hinweise für die Validität und Reliabilität des TDEQ-12 konnten in vier weiteren Stichproben (436 nicht-klinische Personen, 23 nicht-depressive Personen, 64 depressive Patienten, 74 Studierende) gewonnen werden. Die vorliegende Studie legt nahe, dass der TDEQ-12 eine reliable, valide und ökonomische Alternative zum DEQ für die Erfassung von Selbstkritik und Abhängigkeit darstellt.


A comparison of different short-versions of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) for the assessment of self-criticism and dependency

The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) is a questionnaire for the assessment of the two personality-level vulnerability factors for depression: self-criticism and dependency. Because of its length and its complex scoring procedure several alternative versions have been developed in English language. The goal of the present study is to test the psychometric properties of the various DEQ versions in German language, as well as the validation of a short form. We compared the psychometric properties of the various short versions of the DEQ in two samples. The Theoretical Depressive Experiences Questionnaire–12 (TDEQ-12) showed the best psychometric properties, particularly with regard to its factorial validity. Furthermore, we found evidence for the validity and the reliability of the TDEQ-12 in four additional samples. The results of the present study suggest that the TDEQ-12 is a reliable, valid, and economic alternative to the original DEQ for the assessment of self-criticism and dependency.

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