A comparison between the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the self-rating version of the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).
BACKGROUND
The Beck Depression Inventory BDI is the most often used self-rating instrument for depressive symptoms. In the present study, the BDI was compared with a self-rating version of the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S) in 86 psychiatric patients with mainly affective and anxiety disorders.


METHODS
The patients were interviewed with the SCID-I Interview for a DSM-IV Major depression, and self-assessed the BDI and the MADRS. They were rated to have either mild, moderate or severe depressive symptomatology. After recovery, criteria for DSM-IV Personality disorders were self-assessed.


RESULTS
The instruments were about equal in differentiating between different Axis-I diagnoses and did not differ according to sensitivity to change during antidepressive treatment. Although the scales were highly intercorrelated (r=0.869), the BDI was demonstrated to tap more maladaptive personality traits compared to the MADRS-S.


CONCLUSIONS
Because the sample consisted of psychiatric patients with prominent psychiatric symptomatology, the discriminative power of the BDI and the MADRS-S should be further evaluated in a sample with milder symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
The MADRS-S is equivalent to the BDI as a self-assessment instrument for depression, but the MADRS-S focuses on core depressive symptoms, and is less influenced by maladaptive personality traits.
Svanborg
P
P
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institute, S171 76, Stockholm, Sweden. par.svanborg@cns.ki.se
Asberg
M
M
D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires