The two-week and five-week dependability and stability of the depressive personality disorder inventory and its association with current depressive symptoms

Within the psychometric framework of assessing a measure's dependability (Watson, 2004), this study considered the 2-week and 5-week test-retest correlations of the Depressive Personality Disorder Inventory (DPDI; Huprich, Margrett, Barthelemy, & Fine, 1996). DPDI scores were compared with the test-retest reliability (i.e., dependability) of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). Three-hundred sixty-three undergraduates completed the DPDI and BDI-II and were reevaluated at either a 2- or 5-week interval. Two- and 5-week test-retest correlations for the DPDI were .89 and .82, respectively, and test-retest correlations for the BDI-II were .88 and .75. The effect sizes of the mean scores' changes in the measures across time were larger for the DPDI (ds = .48, .23) than the BDI-II (ds = .28, -.21), with mean BDI-II scores not significantly differing at the 5-week assessment from the baseline mean. Although the 5-week retest correlation for the BDI-II trended toward decreasing reliability from baseline, it did not significantly differ from the DPDI 5-week retest correlation. It is concluded that both measures are dependable and assess latent propensities toward depressive thoughts and feelings, along with the current influence of depressive states.