Faculty Publications

Psychometric Properties Of The Beck Depression Inventory-II In Nonclinical Adolescent Samples

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Depression severity, Factor analyses, Nonclinical adolescents, Psychometrics

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Clinical Psychology

Volume

64

Issue

1

First Page

83

Last Page

102

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) in samples of high-school adolescents (N = 414; 210 boys and 204 girls, ages 14-18 years). Confirmatory factor analyses provided satisfactory fit estimates for the two- and three-factor oblique solutions reported frequently in the extant literature. The solution to a general factor with domain-specific somatic and cognitive-affective factors was examined as an alternative model to previously established models for the current high-school sample data. Results provided stronger support for the general factor model. Estimates of internal consistency for scores on this instrument were high (coefficient α = .92, average interitem correlation = .35). The mean BDI-II total score for the nonclinical samples (M = 12.50, SD = 10.50) was compared with the mean scores reported for various adolescent normative samples in the extant literature. The BDI-II total score correlated moderately and significantly with scores on self-report measures of hopelessness (r = .63), anxiety (r = .53), and suicide-related behaviors (r = .57), providing support of adequate correlates for the BDI-II. Estimates of known-groups validity were evaluated using data from a small sample of 167 clinical adolescent inpatients. Specific study findings, limitations, and recommendations are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

1-1-2008

DOI of published version

10.1002/jclp.20433

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