Beck Depression
The Beck Depression Inventory is also called as BDI. The Beck Scales have been developed and validated to assist you in making focused and reliable patient evaluations. Test results can be the first step in recognizing and appropriately treating an affective disorder.
The Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) is a 21-item self-report instrument intended to assess the existence and severity of symptoms of depression as listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; 1994).
The BDI-IA was a revision of the original instrument, published by Beck in 1971.
The BDI-II was a 1996 revision of the BDI, developed in response to the American Psychiatric Association's publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, which changed many of the diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder.
There are two versions of Beck Depression Inventory, the original 1961 version and an updated 1995 version. The 1995 version is known as BDI-II.
The BDI was originally developed to detect, assess, and monitor changes in depressive symptoms among people in a mental health care setting. It is also used to detect depressive symptoms in a primary care setting. The BDI usually takes between five and ten minutes to complete as part of a psychological or medical examination.
Disadvantage of Beck Depression Inventory
One disadvantage of the Beck Depression Inventory is the use of physical symptoms to assess the severity of depression. This, experts claim can give a false reading as other illnesses can cause some of the symptoms, such as fatigue.
Reliability of Beck Depression Inventory
Test-retest reliability has been studied in the case of 38 patients who were given the BDI on two occasions. It was discovered that the changes in BDI scores tended to parallel changes in the clinical reading of the depth of depression, indicating a consistent relationship between BDI scores and the patient’s clinical state. The reliability figures here were above .90. Internal consistency studies demonstrated a correlation coefficient of .86 for the test items, and the Spearman-Brown correlation for the reliability of the BDI yielded a coefficient of .93.
Total score Levels of Depression
05 - 09 These ups and downs are considered normal
10 - 18 Mild to moderate depression
19 - 29 Moderate to severe depression
30 - 63 Severe depression
Below 4 = Possible denial of depression, faking good; this is below usual scores for normals.
Over 40 = This is significantly above even severely depressed persons, suggesting possible exaggeration of depression; possibly characteristic of histrionic or borderline personality disorders. Significant levels of depression are still possible (Groth-Marnat, 1990).