Beck Depression Inventory

 

Beck Depression Inventory

 (BDI)

 

Definition

A set of 21 self-reported questions known as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was created to assess the depth, intensity, and frequency of depressive symptoms in individuals between the ages of 13 and 80. A simpler form with only seven questions is intended for use by primary care physicians.

Purpose

Aaron T. Beck, a pioneer in cognitive therapy, created the BDI at first. Its goal is to identify, evaluate, and track changes in depressed symptoms in patients receiving mental health therapy.

Precautions

The BDI is intended for usage by qualified experts only. It should be given by a qualified mental health professional with experience using and interpreting it.

Description

The 1961 BDI was modified in 1969, and copyright protection was added in 1979. In order to incorporate changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), a manual used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders, the second version of the inventory (BDI-II) was created and released in 1996.

The BDI long form consists of 21 questions or items, each of which has four alternative answers. Each response is given a number between zero and three that represents the intensity of the symptom the patient has been dealing with for the past two weeks. Seven self-reported items make up a version (BDI-PC) intended for use by primary care professionals.

The BDI contains specific questions that measure mood, pessimism, sense of failure, guilt, punishment, self-dislike, self-accusation, suicidal thoughts, crying, irritability, social withdrawal, body image, work difficulties, insomnia, fatigue, appetite, weight loss, bodily preoccupation, and loss of libido. The first 13 items evaluate psychological symptoms, and items 14 through 21 evaluate more physical problems.

In a primary care context, the BDI is also used to identify depression symptoms. As part of a psychiatric or medical assessment, the BDI typically takes five to ten minutes to complete.

Results

The degree of depression is determined by the total of all BDI item scores. Both the general population and people with a clinical diagnosis of depression have different test scores. A score of 21 or more is considered to be depressive for the general population. For those who have received a clinical diagnosis, scores ranging from 0 to 9 represent the least amount of depressive symptoms, 10 to 16 represent mild depression, 17 to 29 represent moderate depression, and 30 to 63 represent severe depression. Major depression and dysthymia are two examples of distinct subtypes of depressive illnesses that the BDI may distinguish between (a less severe form of depression).

For content validity, concurrent validity, and construct validity, the BDI has undergone rigorous testing. The BDI has content validity, which is the degree to which test items accurately reflect the phenomenon being assessed, as a result of physicians' shared understanding of the depressive symptoms that psychiatric patients commonly exhibit. At least 35 studies have demonstrated concurrent validity between the BDI and depressive measures like the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-D. Concurrent validity is a measure of how closely a test accords with currently accepted standards.

 

KEY WORDS

Reliability: The capacity of a test to produce reliable, repeated results.

Validity: A test's capacity to measure what it purports to measure with accuracy.

The BDI has been linked to medical symptoms, anxiety, stress, loneliness, sleep patterns, drunkenness, suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and adjustment among young people, according to studies that measure an internal construct or variable.

The validity of the BDI has also been confirmed by factor analysis, a statistical technique used to identify underlying correlations between variables. The BDI can be seen as a syndrome (depression) made up of three elements: unfavourable self-perceptions, diminished performance, and somatic (physical) disruption.

Few studies have found an adverse relationship between higher BDI scores and educational attainment; the BDI, however, does not always correlate with sex, ethnicity, or age.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment is also mentioned.