The predictable instability of psychological distress in college students: A comment on Flett,Vredenburg, and Krames

Flett, Vredenburg, and Krames (1995) claim that their data support the view that the apparent instability in distress among college students is artifactual. However, they have merely demonstrated that distress among college students is an unstable phenomena. Their argument that changes in distress scores have statistical rather than substantive explanations erroneously assumes that instability in distress scores is equivalent to error of measurement.     

A Hmong Adaptation of the Beck Depression Inventory

We developed the Hmong Adaptation of the Beck Depression Inventory (HABDI) and evaluated the instrument's psychometric characteristics. Also examined was the relationship between depression and demographic variables such as age, sex, length of stay in America, English-speaking ability, and social support in Hmong refugees. One hundred twenty-three Hmong living in Fresno County, between the ages of 18 and 66, participated in the study. The new measure demonstrated a high coefficient alpha (.93), and test-retest reliability (.92), and a significant mean score difference between the nondepressed and the depressed groups. Individual items were distributed evenly and correlated highly with the total depression score. The HABDI correctly identified 94% of depressed and 78% of nondepressed in the Hmong sample. The results suggest that quality of social support and years of education play important roles in buffering Hmong refugees against depression, whereas length of stay in America and number of social supports do not.     

Correlations of Beck Depression Inventory and Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale.

The scores of 15 adolescents who had a primary diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, 21 of Conduct Disorder, and 23 control subjects on the Beck and Reynolds depression scales were correlated .58 over-all, .73 for the Posttraumatic group, .48 for the Conduct Disordered group, but .37 for controls. The Reynolds scale did not identify depression in these adolescents as effectively as did the Beck scale.     

Rasch analysis of a simplified Beck Depression Inventory

Depression is one of the most clinically relevant mood disorders, and many assessment instruments have been developed to measure it. Probably the most frequently used instrument is Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The simplified BDI (BDI-S) is a more efficient version of the BDI that has been shown to be no less reliable or valid. As the BDI-S has not yet been subjected to rigorous tests of Item Response Theory, it is the aim of the present paper to conduct such an analysis using the Rasch model. This study subjected a simplified version of the BDI consisting of 20 items (BDI-S20) to a Rasch analysis in a sample of N = 5,035 participants. The scale, minus one misfitting item (BDI-S19), yielded a good approximation to Rasch assumptions. Moderate differential item functioning (DIF) was present. It is concluded that the BDI-S19 is an internally valid instrument for assessing depression, although some room for improvement exists.     

The Beck Depression Inventory: item order and the impact of response sets

The lack of subtle content in the item groups of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the consistency in the ordering of the items from least to most pathological make this instrument unduly susceptible to either defensive or malingering response sets. Two experimental forms were developed for the BDI: a backwards version (a simple reversal of the order of items within each group) and a random-order version. These forms, together with the original item order, were given to college undergraduate women along with the Depression scale from the MMPI and the Burks-Martin Questionnaire covering recent life changes and current stressful situations. The random order BDI results in a significantly higher depression score than did either the original or backwards version. Correlations with the other instruments were comparable for all three forms. The random order of items within each set appears to break up a response set to endorse either the first or last item and is, therefore, recommended.     

The Beck Depression Inventory: Item Order and the Impact of Response Sets

The lack of subtle content in the item groups of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the consistency in the ordering of the items from least to most pathological make this instrument unduly susceptible to either defensive or malingering response sets. Two experimental forms were developed for the BDI: a backwards version (a simple reversal of the order of items within each group) and a random-order version. These forms, together with the original item order, were given to college undergraduate women along with the Depression scale from the MMPI and the Burks-Martin Questionnaire covering recent life changes and current stressful situations. The random order BDI results in a significantly higher depression score than did either the original or backwards version. Correlations with the other instruments were comparable for all three forms. The random order of items within each set appears to break up a response set to endorse either the first or last item and is, therefore, recommended.     

Revised Beck Depression Inventory scores of inner-city adolescents: pre- and postpartum

The revised Beck Depression Inventory was administered to 109 (69.0%) black, 33 (20.9%) Hispanic, and 16 (10.1%) white adolescents who were attending prenatal and postpartum clinics offered by two inner-city hospitals at 28 wk. of pregnancy, 5 wk. postpartum, and 6 mo. postpartum. The mean Beck scores significantly decreased between 28 wk. of pregnancy and 5 wk. postpartum but did not change between 5 wk. and 6 mo. postpartum. The levels of depression were comparable to those previously reported for nonpregnant adolescent females. Using a Beck cut-off score greater than 20 as indicative of depression, 134 (84.8%) were never depressed; 11 (7.0%) became depressed after delivery; 8 (5.1%) ceased being depressed after delivery; and 5 (3.1%) were depressed throughout.     

Malingering traumatic mental disorder on the Beck Depression Inventory: cancerphobia and toxic exposure

The revised Beck Depression Inventory is widely used to measure severity of depression, and it is often used in personal injury litigation as evidence of trauma. However, the potential vulnerability of the inventory to malingering has not been assessed. Of a group of 52 untrained volunteers, 96% were able to fake depression on the inventory and 58% successfully faked extremely severe depression. Users are cautioned against treating Beck's inventory as a literal measuring instrument in contexts where manipulation of responses is a potential issue.     

Factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory in a university sample

Factor analysis was performed on the Beck Depression Inventory with a university sample to examine its potential multidimensionality. A principal components analysis with an oblimin and varimax rotation produced a two-factor solution. These factors were labeled Cognitive-Affective and Physiological and accounted for approximately 39% of the common variance. This finding is consistent with multidimensionality of the inventory and with a similar study of college students. The commonalities of the two studies suggest the reliability (internal consistency) of the Cognitive-Affective and Physiological constructs among "minimally" depressed university samples.     

Evaluating depression severity and remission with a modified Beck Depression Inventory

In an attempt to improve assessment of recovery from depression, a modified Beck Depression Inventory (mBDI) was created that permits endorsement of positive feelings in addition to depressive symptoms. In both normal and clinical samples, the mBDI showed evidence of reliability for measuring varying degrees of depression. In comparison to the original BDI, the mBDI did not significantly improve differentiation in depression severity among depressed individuals and assessment of remission of depressive symptoms. However, the mBDI was significantly better than the original BDI in detecting differences in depression level when overall depression severity was low. Clinical implications for evaluating remission of depression are discussed.     

Relationships between the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression in depressed outpatients

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were used with 300 outpatients diagnosed with DSM-III major depression disorders. A principal-components analysis was performed on the intercorrelations among the 21 BDI and 24 HRSD symptoms. Three orthogonal components were found and interpreted as reflecting differences in self-report and clinical rating methods for measuring the severity of depression. The importance of using both self-reports and clinical ratings for evaluating depression in psychiatric outpatients was discussed.     

The underlying structure of the Beck Depression Inventory II: A multidimensional scaling approach

The purpose of the present study was to confirm Beck’s six symptom categorization of depression through the most recent version of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) by employing a confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS). This analysis indicates two independent dimensions in the BDI-II. The disturbance domain dimension relates to the domains wherein the disturbances occur, and validates Beck’s six symptom categorization dividing the items into disturbances in basic need-satisfaction, energy regulation, focused attention, regulation of emotion, motivation, and cognitive distortion in self-evaluation. The level of arousal dimension relates to how the disturbances are expressed, namely in an under-active, regular, or over-active manifestation. The MDS solution suggests 18 (6 × 3) symptom areas of depression, and may serve as a guide for constructing additional items.     

A structural model for postpartum responses to the somatic and cognitive items on the Beck Depression Inventory

A distinction can be drawn between those items on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) that reflect mainly cognitive and emotional symptoms and those that reflect somatic symptoms. Responses to the BDI were obtained from women at 3, 6, 9, and 24 weeks postpartum. The covariances of cognitive and somatic symptom scores across the four time points were closely fit by a structural equations model referred to as the simplex. The modeling indicates that earlier cognitive scores directly predict later somatic scores but that early somatic scores do not directly predict later cognitive scores. Other data confirm the results.Much of this research was supported while the first author was an NIMH Fellow at the University of Iowa (MH15168).     

Sex differences on the revised Beck Depression Inventory for outpatients with affective disorders

The revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to 174 male and 276 female psychiatric outpatients diagnosed with affective disorders. The mean BDI scores, mean number of symptoms claimed, and corrected item-total correlations were comparable for both sexes, and the coefficient alpha for each sex was .88. Principal components analyses found four dimensions of depression underlying both sexes' BDI item-intercorrelation matrices. Although men and women had comparable dimensions with respect to weight loss, self-blame, and somatic-performance symptoms, men had affective and performance symptoms loading on the same factor, whereas women had affective and cognitive symptoms loading on the same dimension.     

Sex Differences on the Revised Beck Depression Inventory for Outpatients With Affective Disorders

The revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to 174 male and 276 female psychiatric outpatients diagnosed with affective disorders. The mean BDI scores, mean number of symptoms claimed, and corrected item-total correlations were comparable for both sexes, and the coefficients alpha for each sex was .88. Principal components analyses found four dimensions of depression underlying both sexes' BDI item-intercorrelation matrices. Although men and women had comparable dimensions with respect to weight loss, self-blame, and somatic-performance symptoms, men had affective and performance symptoms loading on the same factor, whereas women had affective and cognitive symptoms loading on the same dimension.     

The Beck Depression Inventory as a Measure of Subjective Well-Being: A Cross-National Study

The present study examined the question whether the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which is one of the most widely used instruments to assess depression, can be used to measure differences in subjective well-being at national level. In order to establish the meaning of depression scores at country level, the functional equivalence (i.e., similarity of meaning) of depression scores at individual and country level was examined. Studies using the BDI in normal populations from 28 countries were collected. Depression showed the same correlates at individual and country level, which supports the functional equivalence of the BDI at the two levels. BDI scores and subjective well-being were then correlated with a number of country characteristics in order to test three theories of cross-national differences in subjective well-being. Livability theory stresses the importance of objective living conditions, comparison theory focuses on relative living conditions, and folklore theory states that cross-national differences can be explained by some national trait (e.g., beliefs and values concerning happiness). Cross-national differences in depression and subjective well-being could be explained by livability theory and folklore theory. BDI scores were negatively correlated with subjective well-being and other happiness-related variables. These findings suggest that depression had the same meaning at individual and country level and that depression is an adequate measure of (a lack of) subjective well-being at country level.