Beck’s Depression Inventory
Given by Aron T Beck.
Depression:
• ICD–10 DSM–IV major/minor depressive disorder
• Depressed mood* Depressed mood by self-report or observation made by
others*
• Loss of interest* Loss of interest or pleasure*
• Reduction in energy* Fatigue/loss of energy
• Loss of confidence or self-esteem Worthlessness/excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Unreasonable feelings of self-reproach or inappropriate guilt
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide Recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts or actual suicide
attempts
• Diminished ability to think/concentrate or indecisiveness Diminished ability to think/concentrate or indecisiveness
• Change in psychomotor activity with agitation or retardation Psychomotor agitation or retardation
• Sleep disturbance Insomnia/hypersomnia
• Change in appetite with weight change Significant appetite and/or weight loss
*Core symptoms.
• Test: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
• Year: 1961
• Domain: Psychological
• Assessment Tool Category: Mental Health
• Variations/Translations: Revised version in 1971 (BDI-1A), and the BDI-II,
published in 1996, BDI-PC, BDI-FS
• Setting: Clinical, Age grou: 13-80
• Method of Delivery: In person survey (self-administered more common) or
questionnaire.
Description:
• The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a 21-item test presented in multiple-choice format, which
measures presence and degree of depression in adolescents and adults consistent with the DSM-
IV. It is not intended as a diagnostic instrument. It is used mostly as a screening instrument and
for clinical research. Each of the 21-items of the BDI attempts to assess a specific symptom or
attitude which appear(s) to be specific to depressed patients, and which are consistent with
descriptions of the depression contained in the psychiatric literature.
• The BDI evaluates 21 symptoms of depression, 15 of which cover emotions, four cover behavioral
changes, and six somatic symptoms.
• The 21 items cover sadness, pessimism, past failure, self-dislike, self-criticism, suicidal thoughts
or wishes, crying, agitation, loss of interest, indecisiveness, worthlessness, loss of energy,
changes in sleeping patterns, irritability, changes in appetite, difficulty concentrating, tiredness or
fatigue, and loss of interest in sex. The reading level of the revised version is at a fifth or sixth
grade level.
• The BDI was used as a model for the development of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI),
first published in 1979 by clinical psychologist Maria Kovacs.
• Scoring/Interpretation:
Each answer is scored on a scale value of 0-3. Measures of 0–9 indicates that a
person is not depressed, 10–18 indicates mild-moderate depression, 19–29
indicates moderate-severe depression and 30–63 indicates severe depression.
General guidelines of scores are: Less than 10 = no or minimal depression,10-18
= mild-to-moderate depression,19-29 = moderate-to-severe depression, 30+ =
severe depression.
• Time to Administer: 5-10 minutes
• Validity (Quantitative): Beck reviewed 11 studies and displayed that the BDI was capable of
discriminating between groups that contrasted in level of depression. Content validity would seem to be
quite high since the BDI appears to evaluate a wide variety of symptoms and attitudes associated with
depression. Beck reports studies in which coefficients of .65 and .67 were obtained in comparing results
of the BDI with psychiatric ratings of patients. Correlations with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression
(HRSD) ranged from 0.61 to 0.86 in five studies with psychiatric patients. A correlation of 0.62 was
reported with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist depression score. At a cutting-point of 9/10, sensitivity
was 84.6% and specificity was 86.4%. BDI had a higher sensitivity and specificity compared with the DSM-
II made by clinical psychologists.
• Reliability (Quantitative): Beck’s original paper reported an 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. A split-half reliability of 0.86 was given in addition to yielding alpha
coefficients ranging from 0.76 to 0.95 in psychiatric samples. Test-retest reliability ranged from 0.48 to
0.86 in give studies of psychiatric patients and 0.60 to 0.83 in six non-psychiatric populations. These
results were confirmed year later and in different populations. The BDI-II showed higher reliability scores
across all fields. For more information, see the references.
• References:
Beck, A.T., Ward, C., & Mendelson, M. (1961). "Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)". Archives of General
Psychiatry, 4, 561-571.
McDowell, I. & Newell, C. (1996). Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires. (2nd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
