Reexamining the Beck Depression Inventory: The Long and Short of it

The psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory and its short form were compared for a psychiatric sample of clinically depressed adults. Factor analyses indicated that the short form retained the essential integrity of cognitive components of the standard inventory but further attenuated already weak somatic components. As a result, the wisdom of shortening the scale is questioned and a call is made for improving the existing scale. A preliminary attempt at improvement, involving the modification of items inconsistent with other diagnostic systems, proved reasonably successful. Further suggestions for enhancing the psychometric properties of the scale are discussed.</jats:p

Modifying the Beck Depression Inventory: A Rejoinder to Steer and Beck

Regarding our recent paper in this journal, Steer and Beck agree that it is inadvisable to use the short version of the Beck Depression Inventory as a substitute for the standard version. They take issue, however, with our recommendations for making the standard scale more compatible with DSM-III and Research Diagnostic Criteria. The present paper provides further clarification and justification for these proposed modifications. </jats:p

Depression in Elderly Persons and its Correlates in Family Practice: A Canadian Study

Depression was studied in a Canadian community sample of 582 men and 906 women over the age of 65 years. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) provided the measure of depressive symptomatology. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to confirm clinical diagnosis. A total of 8% of the sample (4.3% of men and 10.4% of women) were at or above the cut-off point of 16 on the Depression Scale. Significant Pearson correlations with depression were found for gender and education. The married and never married persons showed low depression while the widowed, separated, or divorced appeared to be at high risk. The relationship of marital status to depression is primarily a woman's issue as most elderly men are married. This finding may have implications for policy and program planning for this population. </jats:p