title: [Measuring depression of prisoners].
abstract: On the basis of a sample of 125 adult criminal offenders and 66 students, the use of the abriged BDI as a depression screening device for felons is explored. The investigation confirms the high consistency and item-total correlations of the BDI. The factorial validity is doubtful. Only the first factor may be reidentified in different samples. A high percentage of offenders had scores at or above 8 indicating moderate or severe depression. Since offenders and students do not differ in the depression scores, the validity of the cut-off scores (Beck & Beck, 1972) may be questioned. The abriged BDI does not correlate with criminal or arrest data (e.g. number of offences, sentence length and status of imprisonment), but with other self-report measures for the assessment of self-concept or anxiety. Discriminant validity in respect to related constructs (anxiety and self-concept) cannot be expected.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik, Heidelberg.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scheurer
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Kröber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D014754:Violence
vernacular_title: Zur Messung von Depression bei Straftätern.