title: Concurrent validity and psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory in outpatient adolescents.
abstract: The concurrent validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was evaluated in 122 outpatient adolescents referred to a clinic for depression. Criterion validators were Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) generated diagnoses and a 17-item clinician-rated depression scale extracted from the K-SADS. Initial BDI scores of greater than 13 yielded sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive powers of 86%, 82%, and 83%, respectively, in differentiating syndromal major depressive disorder (MDD) from nonaffective disordered patients. In repeated interviews in 2 weeks with a BDI score of greater than 13, these parameters were 89%, 88%, and 93%, respectively, in those meeting MDD criteria. The BDI correlated significantly with the 17-item depression score in depressed females but not depressed males because BDI scores were more than 30% higher in females. BDI internal consistency among all cases was 0.91 and was higher in depressed than nondepressed patients.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Pennsylvania/Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ambrosini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rabinovich
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Undie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results